As Winter Came
by TouhouLoveStories
Summary: Sakuya gets really sick and Meiling is very worried. Will Sakuya survive her sickness? Rated T for mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TOUHOU PROJECT!**

 **It's been a while since I've written a serious fanfic. Enjoy.**

It was a very normal summer day in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Everybody went about their day like they normally would.

Sakuya was cleaning the mansion with the help of the many fairy maids that inhabited the mansion. She had already finished the first, second, and third floors by the time it was noon. She prepared lunch for everyone, except for Remilia and Flandre, who were asleep during the day.

Meiling was outside at her post, sleeping, as usual. Occasionally, Sakuya would come outside and shake her awake, scolding her for neglecting her duties. But, still, Meiling continued to nod off and eventually fall asleep.

Patchouli was inside the library, reading and doing some research for a spell to help with her asthma. Koakuma was sorting books in the very, very back of the library, waiting for her mistress to give her another task.

It was a normal day, indeed.

But, when dinner time rolled around, things changed immediately.

"Sakuya-san! Hi!" Meiling called to Sakuya, who was cooking dinner in the kitchen. She had just arrived inside the mansion after finishing up her shift.

"Oh, Meiling. Hi," Sakuya greeted her, not looking up from what she was doing. Meiling watched as she added something to a big silver pot.

"What are you cooking for dinner?" Meiling asked.

"Spaghetti. It's an Italian meal that I wanted to try cooking," Sakuya answered, still not looking up from her work.

"Do you need any help?" Meiling asked, stepping further into the kitchen.

"Not with the cooking. But, if you can go inform Patchouli-sama that dinner is almost ready, that'd be great."

"Yes ma'am, Sakuya-san!" Meiling said cheerfully, saluting and then walking out of the kitchen toward Voile, The Magic Library.

As she walked down the hall, she thought about how many paintings they had in the mansion. _There are so many paintings! I wonder if Remilia-sama knows how many there are...maybe I should ask her next time I see her..._ Meiling thought to herself.

When she arrived at the library, she pushed open the door to find Patchouli-sama in her usual spot, which was at her desk.

"Oh, hello Meiling. What can I do for you?" Patchouli asked in a calm manner.

"Sakuya-san wanted me to tell you that dinner is almost ready," Meiling informed her.

"Okay. Thank you, Meiling. I will be there in a moment."

Meiling nodded respectfully and then exited the library, closing the door behind her. She then began to walk toward the kitchen, where she found Sakuya piling spaghetti on some plates.

"Sakuya-san, what about Remilia-sama? Should we wake her and the young mistress?" Meiling asked.

"Oh, yes, I need to do that. Be right back," Sakuya said, and suddenly she had disappeared.

 _She used her time powers,_ Meiling thought.

Sakuya was back within seconds. "They're awake," Sakuya said simply, going back to her job.

Meiling watched as Sakuya finished piling spaghetti on each plate, and then she began to add sauce to the noodles. Sakuya added sauce to 2 plates, and then suddenly stopped what she was doing. Sauce tumbled out of the can and onto the counter, but Sakuya wasn't responding to the mess she was making.

"Um...Sakuya-san? You're spilling sauce everywhere," Meiling informed her.

Silence.

"Sakuya-san?"

Still, nothing.

"Ha, ha, this is a funny joke Sakuya-san. You can stop ignoring me now."

When Meiling got nothing in response yet again, she began to get worried and grabbed ahold of Sakuya's shoulders. "Sakuya-san? Are you in there?" Meiling asked, her voice heavy with panic.

"SAKUYA-SAN?" Meiling asked, shaking her back and forth. "SAKUYA? SAKUYA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Meiling cried, and flipped her around to face her.

Sakuya's eyes were staring straight ahead at nothing. It was almost like she was...like she was...

Suddenly, Sakuya's body went limp and Meiling had to catch her to keep her from falling to the floor. "SAKUYA!"

 _Help...I need to get help!  
_ "HELP! PATCHOULI-SAMA! REMILIA-SAMA! ANYBODY, HELP! SAKUYA COLLAPSED!" Meiling shouted, laying Sakuya down gently on the floor.

"Meiling, what are you yelling about?" Patchouli asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Patchouli-sama, Sakuya-san collapsed! She was just making dinner, and then she suddenly stopped what she was doing! And I asked her why she had stopped, but she wouldn't answer me, and then she collapsed! Patchouli-sama, what's wrong with her?" Meiling explained urgently.

Patchouli walked over to Sakuya's limp body and knelt down next to her. Sakuya's eyes were wide open still, not moving or blinking at all. The purple librarian checked for a pulse, and then looked up at Meiling. "Well, her heart is still beating..." Patchouli told her. "And she's still breathing. But she's really unresponsive, and she hasn't blinked since I've seen her."

"But, what's wrong with her?" Meiling asked, panicked.

Patchouli was quiet for a long time. Then she spoke up, "She may be having a seizure."

 _Seizure?  
_ "A seizure?" Meiling asked.

"Yes. But this type of seizure is rare. It may appear that someone is only daydreaming, or staring off into space, but really, they're having a seizure. She probably wasn't responding to you because of this," Patchouli explained.

Suddenly, Sakuya stirred, surprising them both. She blinked, and then sat up, looking at them both. Then she asked, "Why am I on the floor? I thought I was making dinner," Sakuya said, obviously confused.

"You suddenly stopped making dinner and then spaced out for a while. Meiling tried getting your attention, but you were unresponsive and then suddenly collapsed," Patchouli informed her.

"I don't remember that...well, I best finish making dinner. I was almost done putting on the sauce, anyway," Sakuya said, and then stood up and went back to making dinner.  
Patchouli suddenly dragged Meiling out of the kitchen and lowered her voice to say, "Meiling, I want you to watch Sakuya closely when you're inside the mansion. She appears to be fine currently, but she may have another seizure and collapse again. That's when we'll know there's something wrong with her, and we'll have to take Sakuya to Eientei. This should be taken very seriously, because if she has a life-threatening disease, she could die. In fact, I think I'll try to talk Remilia into letting you have the day off tomorrow, just so you can monitor Sakuya and report back to me. Do you understand?" Patchouli asked.

Meiling nodded. "Yes, I understand."

 **Thanks for reading! I will make more soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TOUHOU PROJECT!**

"Thank you, Sakuya," Remilia said as Sakuya set down a plate of spaghetti in front of her. "Itadakimasu*!" Everyone cheered, and began to eat.

Sakuya was delighted to find that everyone enjoyed the meal she had cooked. It was a pretty easy meal to make, but she had never made it before, so she was a little worried that not everybody would like it. She smiled to herself when she saw Flandre licking her fork clean of tomato sauce.

"So, I heard you collapsed, Sakuya! Are you not feeling well?" Remilia suddenly said, setting down her fork.

Everybody looked toward Sakuya and awaited an answer. "I'm feeling great right now. In fact, I'm feeling greater than I've ever been," Sakuya lied. In truth, she was feeling a little tired than usual, but not tired enough to want to sleep.

"Are you sure? You look a little pale to me," Remilia told her, concerned.

"Really, I'm fine," Sakuya laughed a little, causing everybody else to chuckle lightly.

Dinner was soon over. Sakuya had the job of cleaning off everyone's plates and washing them, which didn't usually take very long, but due to feeling a little more tired than usual, it took a bit longer.

"Sakuya-san, do you need any help with anything?" A voice asked behind her.

Sakuya turned to see Meiling standing there, awaiting a command. "No, thank you. You can go back outside and finish up guarding the gate until your shift is over," Sakuya told her, and then walked off to check the status of the fairy maids' cleaning.

They were cleaning the fourth floor. The fairy maids were halfway done cleaning, but Sakuya noticed that they had missed a few spots and took care of it herself.

Suddenly, Sakuya felt really tired. She felt so tired that she wanted to abandon the rest of her job and go to sleep. She wanted to ask Remilia if she could have a short break to take a nap, but then decided against it.

 _Wait!_ Sakuya thought to herself, _I can stop time and take a break!_

Realizing that, she stopped time and began to walk toward her room, but then stopped. _If I stopped time to take a break, that would be selfish of me, and I would be neglecting my duties..._ Sakuya sighed at that thought and walked back to the fourth floor, letting time flow again. _Besides, my shift is almost over..._

* * *

Sakuya opened the door and walked outside the mansion into the garden. She admired the flowers as she walked toward the gate. _Meiling really is a great gardener..._

"Meiling, your shift is over. You can come inside the mansion now," Sakuya told her.

"Okay," Meiling said, and joined Sakuya in her walk back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Sakuya?"

"Yes, Meiling?"  
"Are you really feeling okay?"

"...yes," Sakuya replied.

"Is that the truth?" Meiling interrogated.

"...no."

"Well, how do you feel right now? And be honest, too."  
"I feel...tired..." Sakuya said slowly.

"And?"

"Just tired. Very, very, very tired."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?"  
"Not really. I think I just need to sleep," Sakuya told her. They had already arrived at the mansion.

"Well, okay. Just let me know if you need anything. Patchouli-sama, Remilia-sama, and Flandre-sama will be here for you as well," Meiling informed Sakuya.

"Okay," Sakuya said simply, and walked off to her room. She opened the door and quickly changed into her night clothes, and then collapsed on the bed, exhausted from all the work she did that day.

 _Did I really collapse? Or is it a joke...?_ Sakuya thought to herself. _Ojou-sama and Meiling looked really serious when they asked me if I was okay...and it's not April Fools Day, so it's probably not a joke._ Sakuya turned over the thought in her head and gave up. _Oh well. It's best not to worry too much. I'm tired, anyway..._

Sakuya closed her eyes and fell asleep within five minutes. She decided that she had never felt that tired before in ages.

* * *

Sakuya's eyes snapped open, and she quickly sat up. Her stomach was making loud gurgling noises, and she didn't like it.

 _I probably just need to use the bathroom. I haven't used it since this morning._ Sakuya looked at the clock. It read 2:29. _Well...yesterday's morning._

Sakuya rose slowly and shakily from her bed. She felt very cold, and shivered as she made her way to the bathroom in her room. Suddenly, her stomach lurched, and she felt a thick, slimy, yucky bile come from the back of her throat and out her mouth. Luckily, she was right by the toilet, and she made it in time, so there wasn't any throw-up on the floor.

Sakuya knelt beside the toilet and threw up more yellow-green slime inside it. She could feel something like hot water fall out of her nose and into the toilet. Sakuya's whole body convulsed and shivered as she threw up yet again.

Sakuya stayed there for about 15 minutes, throwing up yellow-green bile and shivering. She felt so sick and terrible inside that she wanted to die. Her stomach hurt like it had never ached before.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Sakuya-san, are you all right? I heard something odd coming from your room," Meiling asked, her voice slightly muffled by the door.

"I'm fi-" Sakuya was cut off by more bile escaping through her mouth and into the toilet.

"Can I come in?" Meiling asked.

Sakuya thought about it for a little bit. _I guess I do need some help..._

"Y-yeah, you can c-come in," Sakuya said shakily.

She heard the sound of the door opening and closing and then Meiling was by her side, rubbing her back comfortingly as she threw up yet again. She puked until there was nothing left to come up.

"I'll get you some water to sip on. You should wash out your mouth," Meiling suggested, and then left the room in a hurry.

Sakuya slumped over onto the bathroom floor, not caring that she was laying on the floor. She clutched her stomach, which was still making gurgling noises, and closed her eyes in pain. She felt so exhausted from all the throwing up she did.

Meiling returned with a glass of water and a thermometer. Sakuya sat up, but remained on the floor. Meiling handed Sakuya the water, which Sakuya took from her with a shaky hand.

"Th-thanks," Sakuya whispered, and sipped the water gently. Luckily, it stayed down, so Sakuya sipped the water until it was gone.

Meiling then handed her the thermometer. "Please take your temperature," Meiling told her.

Sakuya obeyed, and put the thermometer in her mouth. The red liquid inside it went all the way to the 98 mark.

"Huh. No fever," Meiling said, taking the thermometer gently out of Sakuya's mouth. "Are you okay now?"

"I think so," Sakuya replied. "I can go back to sleep now," Sakuya said, rising from the floor and climbing into her bed.

Meiling nodded, and then flushed the toilet, which was filled with Sakuya's throw-up.

"Just let me know if you need anything," Meiling told her, and made her way to the door.

"Meiling," Sakuya said suddenly.

Meiling stopped and turned around to look at Sakuya, who was already laying down in bed.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Sakuya thanked her.

Meiling smiled. "No problem, Sakuya-san! You're like my little sister, you know?" Meiling smiled at her once more and then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

For some reason, the word "sister" made her feel uncomfortable.

 ***Itadakimasu is something people in Japan normally say before they eat. It means, "Thanks for the food!"**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TOUHOU PROJECT!  
**

Meiling shut the door to Sakuya's room gently and then immediately began walking toward Patchouli's library.

 _She did say that I should report back to her on Sakuya's condition..._ Meiling thought as she opened the door to the library.

"Ah, Meiling," Patchouli said when Meiling walked in.

Meiling saw Patchouli sitting in her usual spot in the library. She was surprised that Patchouli was up this late, though. "Patchouli-sama? What are you doing up this late?" Meiling asked her, curious.

"I'm researching a spell to cure my asthma. What can I do for you?" Patchouli asked the redheaded gate-guarded.

"Sakuya-san just threw up! And it wasn't even a little bit...I think she emptied her whole stomach...poor girl..." Meiling informed the purple mage.

"Hmm...a seizure and now this...we need to bring her to Eientei in the morning," Patchouli decided. "We should have brought her there whenever she had her seizure, but this is really getting serious. I don't even know what she might have...Koakuma!" Patchouli called to the little devil, who teleported in front of Patchouli.

"Yes, mistress?"

"Would you mind getting me a few books on diseases? Thanks," Patchouli ordered her.

"Yes, right away!" Koakuma said cheerfully, and flew off.

"Meiling, I suggest you go inform Remilia as well. She needs to be aware of what we're going to do the next morning. Don't worry about waking her; she'll be awake at this time, of course," Patchouli suggested.

"I'll go do that," Meiling said calmly, and then quickly walked toward Remilia's room. When she arrived at the door, she opened it to find the room empty.

 _Maybe she's outside hunt-_

"Hey, what's up?" A voice asked behind her.

Meiling turned to see Remilia and Flandre standing there. "Oh, hey! I was coming to inform you that Sakuya-san threw up and Patchouli-sama and I are going to take her to Eientei to have Eirin examine her," Meiling explained.

"Sakuya threw up?" Flandre asked, worried.

"Yeah..." Meiling sighed.

"Poor girl...well, you have my permission to go tomorrow morning. You can go there anytime, if you need to. Also, you and Sakuya can both have the day off, due to her poor health," Remilia told Meiling.

"Okay. Thank you, Remilia-sama. I will go inform Patchouli-sama now."

Meiling quickly made her way back to the library and opened the door to find Patchouli at her desk reading a large book.

Patchouli looked up when she heard the door close. "What did Remilia say?" Patchouli interrogated.

"She said we can go to Eientei anytime we need to," Meiling reported.

Patchouli nodded. "Good. I haven't found anything with her symptoms just yet. You can go to sleep now, Meiling. I will make sure to wake you in the morning so we can take Sakuya to Eientei," Patchouli said, dismissing Meiling.

The redheaded gate-guard nodded politely and walked out of the library and toward her room. Before heading into her bedroom, she decided to check on Sakuya.

She cracked the door open a bit and took a step inside, blocking the light coming from the hallway so it wouldn't wake up Sakuya if she was asleep. When Meiling saw that Sakuya was indeed asleep, she shut the door gently and went to sleep in her room.

LINE HERE  
The next morning, Meiling woke up to the sun coming in through her window getting in her eyes. _Forgot to close the curtains..._ Meiling thought, and got up to shut them. She then glance at a clock on her wall. _7:00...I wonder if Patchouli-sama is awake. We need to take Sakuya to Eientei._

Meiling quickly put on her uniform and walked to the library, where she saw Patchouli sitting in the same position as she had left her.

"Good morning, Meiling," Patchouli greeted her, not looking up from her book. "Come have some tea and cookies with me," Patchouli invited.

Meiling sat in a chair across from Patchouli and grabbed a cookie and a cup of tea off of a plate. She sipped her tea and munched on her cookie a bit before speaking. "Patchouli-sama, will we take Sakuya-san to Eientei today?" Meiling asked.

"Yes, we need to do that. Why don't you go wake her up and see if she's hungry?" Patchouli told her.

Meiling nodded and quickly finished up her tea and cookie, and then grabbed another cookie for Sakuya. She flew out of the library and up the stairs to Sakuya's room, where inside she found a sleeping Sakuya in bed.

Meiling looked at Sakuya's sleeping face. Her mouth was hanging slightly ajar, which Meiling found extremely cute. _So cute!_ Meiling thought to herself. _I don't want to wake her...but I have to. It's for her own sake._

"Sakuya-san..." Meiling whispered, shaking Sakuya a little. "Sakuya-san, it's time to wake up..."

Sakuya's eyes opened slowly. She sat up and blinked a little, looking around at her surroundings. "Oh, good morning Meiling. Why are you standing in my room with a cookie in your hand?" Sakuya asked.

"This cookie is for you, if you're hungry. We're going to take you to Eientei to try and get rid of that sickness of yours," Meiling told her, handing her the cookie. "I suggest you get dressed. Patchouli-sama and I will wait in the library for you," Meiling informed her.

"Okay," Sakuya said simply, yawning before taking a bite of her cookie.

Meiling left the room and headed back to the library, where she was greeted by the sound of a book slamming shut.

"Meiling, come here," Patchouli called.

Meiling rushed over to the purple mage's desk. "Yes?"

"I haven't found much on absence seizures, which is the type of seizure Sakuya had. There are a few diseases that Sakuya could have, but I'm not too sure if she has any of them because there haven't been enough symptoms occurring. She's had a seizure, she's extremely fatigued, and she threw up, correct?" Patchouli asked.

"I think that's right."

Meiling jumped at the sound of the library door opening and closing.

"Good morning, Patchouli-sama," Sakuya greeted her. "Do you need more-"

"Sakuya, we're taking you to Eientei to be examined by Eirin. We just want to make sure that you don't have anything serious," Patchouli interrupted her. "Let's go."

Sakuya opened her mouth like she was going to protest, but instead snapped it shut. "Okay."

Meiling, Patchouli, and Sakuya walked out the door and began to fly toward Eientei. Patchouli flew in front with Meiling and Sakuya behind her. Meiling flew close to Sakuya in case she fell, but not too close.

"Patchouli-sama, is this flight too much for your health to handle?" Sakuya asked her.

"I'll be fine."

"Does Ojou-sama know that we left?" Sakuya whispered to Meiling.

"Yes," Meiling whispered back.

The trip to Eientei took a little longer than usual, but when they got there, they were greeted by Eirin and Reisen standing in front of the entrance.

"Welcome to Eientei. What can we do for you?" Eirin asked.

"Sakuya has had an absence seizure, been extremely fatigued, and threw up just recently," Patchouli told Eirin.

"Hmmm...an absence seizure? I haven't seen one of those in ages," Eirin said. "Why don't you come inside and I'll examine Sakuya?" Eirin suggested.

Patchouli nodded, and all three of them, including Reisen, walked inside. Eirin led them into an examination room. "First, I'll take your temperature. Open your mouth, please," Eirin ordered her, and then stuck the thermometer inside her mouth. The red liquid went dangerously high, but not too high that Sakuya's temperature could have been over 104ºF.

Eirin put on her glasses and read the thermometer. "102ºF. That's a pretty high fever," Eirin remarked, and then took out the thermometer.

Then Eirin took out a stethoscope and pressed it onto Sakuya's chest, asking her to inhale as deeply as possible, and then exhale as deeply as possible. Eirin checked her heart as well, and apparently thought that it was beating correctly, because she didn't say anything as she moved onto her ears, mouth, and nose. Eirin then had Sakuya lie down on a table in the room and she pressed on her belly and armpits, making sure those areas didn't have any tumors in them.

Eirin checked Sakuya all over, and then shook her head at Patchouli and Meiling. "Well...I don't know what to tell you. I've never seen this before. She's had a fever, thrown up, had a seizure, and has been fatigued as of late, correct?" Eirin asked.

"Yes, that's correct," Patchouli answered.

"Hmm...this is interesting. Can you describe her seizure to me?" Eirin asked.

"Well...Sakuya-san was making dinner like she normally does, when she suddenly stopped what she was doing. Tomato sauce fell out of the can that she was holding and went all over the counter, but she didn't even bother to clean it up. She just stood there, not responding to me whenever I called out to her, even though I was standing right next to her. She suddenly collapsed onto the floor, her eyes wide open and not moving, but shortly after Patchouli-sama walked in, Sakuya-san woke up and asked 'Why am I on the floor?' as though she didn't remember falling," Meiling explained, not wanting to retell the disturbing memory of Sakuya's seizure.

Eirin was silent for a while, and then spoke up. "I've never seen anything like this before, but I can give you advice on what you should do. You should hospitalize her here to make sure that no more symptoms occur. If they do, I will send Reisen to alert you. I can give her medicine to try to slow down the disease, but I'm not sure how effective it will be. Do you have any allergies?" Eirin asked Sakuya.

"Not that I know of," Sakuya answered.

"Then it should be safe to prescribe you some medication. Would you like to be hospitalized to help slow down the disease?" Eirin asked.

"Uh..." Sakuya didn't answer. "Will Ojou-sama be okay with this?" Sakuya asked Meiling and Patchouli.

"I'm sure Remilia will understand. She takes her servants' health very serious," Patchouli answered.

"...then I'll stay," Sakuya decided.

 **Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is chapter 4. Enjoy!**

"Are you sure you want to stay, Sakuya?" Eirin asked her patient.

"Yes. It's better that I get well soon than overexert myself," Sakuya replied.

"Then I will ask Reisen to begin preparations to hospitalize you. Reisen!" Eirin called to the tall rabbit. "Begin preparations for Sakuya's hospitalization!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Reisen called back.

Eirin turned to Meiling and Patchouli, who were sitting on a bench in the room. "I'll have Reisen come to alert you if Sakuya's condition has gotten better or worse. Don't worry; she'll be in good hands," Eirin informed them.

"Well, we best get back to the mansion. Are you sure you're going to be okay here, Sakuya?" Patchouli asked.

"Yes, Patchouli-sama, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm going to try to get better as quickly as I can so I can return to the mansion. Speaking of the mansion, who will take over my job as the head maid?" Sakuya asked.

"Hmmm...I haven't thought of that yet. I'll ask Remilia that when we get back to the mansion," Patchouli replied.

Suddenly, knocking sounded on the door. "Come in," Eirin said.

Reisen opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind her. "Preparations are complete, Eirin-sama," Reisen informed the doctor, bowing politely.

"Nice work, Reisen. Let's go to your room, shall we?" Eirin asked Sakuya, who nodded and hopped off the table.

Patchouli, Meiling, and Sakuya followed Eirin down the hallway toward where Sakuya's room would be. Eirin opened a door at the end of the hallway and held it open for the other 3 girls.

"This is where you'll be resting while you're staying here. If you need anything, just pull this rope," Eirin explained, pointing to a rope hanging from the ceiling beside the bed, "and either Reisen or myself will come to assist you in whatever you need."

"Thank you for putting her under your care, Eirin. I trust that you will be able to take care of her," Patchouli said to Eirin.

Eirin nodded. "I'll have her all well and ready to go back to the mansion as soon as possible," Eirin informed Patchouli and Meiling.

"Well, we should be going back to the mansion. I'll ask Remilia if I can send Meiling over occasionally to check up on how Sakuya is doing," Patchouli told Eirin.

"Visiting hours are from noon to 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It would be best to send Meiling over in between that time range," Eirin stated.

"Okay. I'll send her over here again later today. Goodbye," Patchouli waved to Eirin and Sakuya.

"We hope you feel better, Sakuya-san!" Meiling said, waving.

Sakuya and Eirin waved goodbye and Patchouli began to make her way out the door, Meiling following close behind her.

* * *

When Meiling and Patchouli arrived back at the mansion, they were immediately greeted by Remilia and Flandre.

"So? How is she?" Remilia asked. "Where's Sakuya?"

"We had her hospitalized in Eientei. Eirin has no idea what she could have, so we left Sakuya under her care," Patchouli answered.

"Is she going to be okay?" Flandre asked.

"We don't know," Patchouli and Meiling said at the same time.

"Who are we going to put in her place as the head maid?" Remilia asked, titling her head to one side.

"That's exactly what I was wondering," Patchouli replied. "Who should we put in as the head maid?"  
"Well, wasn't Meiling the original head maid before Sakuya came here?" Remilia recalled.

"Oh, that's right! We could put Meiling in as the head maid," Patchouli suggested.

"Me? Who will guard the gate?" Meiling asked, surprised.

"Nobody ever guarded the gate in the first place!" Remilia exclaimed. "Besides, you have experience in cleaning and cooking, so you can probably at least clean a few floors correctly and maybe serve up a good meal. And Patchouli can't do it, because she has asthma and the dust will make her wheeze and feel sick," Remilia explained.

"I see now, Remilia-sama," Meiling said. "It's just been so long since I've last cooked or cleaned..."

"The fairy maids will help you. But, you won't be starting your job until tomorrow because today I gave you the day off. The fairy maids can take care of everything for today," Remilia announced to the remaining members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, excluding Koakuma. "You're all dismissed," Remilia said, turning and walking away with Flandre trailing after her.

 _I wonder if Sakuya is doing okay..._ Meiling thought to herself.

* * *

For the rest of the day until around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Meiling simply wandered around the mansion and explored the many rooms inside it. Then, just out of habit, she went outside and checked on the flowers in the garden.

She watered a small patch of roses and picked a few, making them into a bouquet. _Sakuya might like these..._ Meiling thought, holding the bouquet in her hand.

Suddenly, the mansion's door slowly opened and Patchouli poked her head outside. "Meiling! Please go check on Sakuya. I've already told Remilia that you're on your way," Patchouli called to Meiling.

"Yes, ma'am, Patchouli-sama! I'll get right on it!" Meiling called back to Patchouli, saluting to her and then taking flight toward Eientei.

 _Uh-oh! Some of the roses are falling out of the bouquet!_ Meiling thought to herself, tightening her grip on the bouquet of flowers. _Wait a minute...isn't Sakuya mildly allergic to flowers? Hmm...if she is, the flowers might make her condition worser than it already is..._ Meiling shrugged and let the flowers slip out of her hand and onto the ground below. _Better safe than sorry._

When Meiling arrived, she opened the door only to run right into Reisen. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Meiling asked, taking a step back.

"Thank goodness you're here! Sakuya's having another seizure! Come quick!" Reisen said, panicked.

Meiling's heart skipped a beat and she quickly walked with Reisen to where Sakuya was staying. Meiling could hear Eirin shouting orders at something through the door.

"I don't know if you're allowed to go in or not," Reisen said, and then opened the door to Sakuya's room. "Wait here," Reisen said before disappearing behind the door.

Meiling took a deep breath. Honestly, she was terrified of what she might have found if she had entered that room. What if Sakuya was dying at the moment, and the only thing Meiling could do was stand by and listen through a closed door? Why was this happening to Sakuya?

Suddenly, Eirin's yelling calmed to a regular volume, and the door to Sakuya's room opened.

"You can come in," Reisen said, holding the door open for Meiling.

Meiling nervously stepped inside the room where Sakuya was staying. She saw Eirin standing over a strange device and pressing a bunch of colorful buttons.

"Is she going to be okay?" Meiling asked after a while.

Eirin turned to Meiling. "I don't know," Eirin said honestly. "I really wish I did know."

Meiling observed her surroundings some more. She noticed that Sakuya was laying in bed, with her eyes closed, hooked up to a strange device that had a bunch of glowing hills on the screen, and another device that looked like a giant tube.

"What are those machines?" Meiling asked.

"The one with the glowing hills is a heart monitor. The one that has a bunch of tubes is a device that will help her breath," Eirin explained.

"Oh."

"You can sit with her in this chair, if you like," Eirin offered, bringing a chair up next to Sakuya's bed.

Meiling nodded and sat in the chair. "Thank you," Meiling said politely.

Suddenly, Sakuya stirred in her sleep. Her hand twitched a little and she began to breath a bit deeper than she was, signaling that she was probably about to enter a deep sleep.

Eirin stopped pressing buttons on the machine and went over to take Sakuya's temperature with a thermometer. The red liquid inside of the thermometer didn't go up too high for Sakuya to have a fever and stayed only in the 98.7 section of the thermometer.

"No fever...that's good. But she had a seizure..." Eirin murmured to herself. "What has she eaten today?"

"Only a cookie. I think she didn't want to throw up again, so she ate very little today."

"I'm going to make her some soup when she wakes up. Is she allergic to anything?" Eirin asked.

"No, not that I know of," Meiling informed her.

"Then I'll have no problem making her soup when I need to," Eirin said. She glanced at a clock on the wall. "A patient will be coming here soon for an appointment they scheduled. Come Reisen, we're about to have a patient," Eirin said to Reisen, beckoning for the tall, purple-haired rabbit to follow her.

Reisen left the room first, but Eirin stopped for a moment before leaving, so she could say, "If there seems to be anything wrong with Sakuya, please alert me immediately, Meiling," Eirin told Meiling. Then she left the room, leaving only Meiling and Sakuya in there.

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This is chapter 5. Enjoy!**

Sakuya awoke, and the first thing that she noticed was that she was cold. Freezing cold. She felt so cold that her teeth were chattering.

 _I need a blanket!_ Sakuya thought to herself. Then she noticed that she was already under a blanket. _Okay, I need another blanket._

"Sakuya-san, are you awake?" A voice asked from her left.

Rolling over, Sakuya saw Meiling sitting in a chair, staring down at her.

"Oh. Hi," Sakuya managed to blurt out without her teeth chattering.

"Are you cold? Do you need another blanket?" Meiling asked, obviously concerned.

"Y-yes," Sakuya said shakily, and brought her feet up to her chest in a feeble attempt to try to warm up her body.

"Okay, I'll go get Eirin and tell her that you're cold and awake," Meiling told Sakuya, and then left the room.

 _Ugh...my head hurts..._ Sakuya thought to herself. _What's wrong with me? It's not even winter, yet I'm shivering. Or is it winter? How long have I been asleep?_ Sakuya turned the thought over in her head, still shivering.

Suddenly, the door opened once more, and Eirin appeared holding a large, thick, black blanket in her hands. Meiling followed her inside with a bowl of something in her hands. Sakuya guessed it was soup.

At the thought of food, Sakuya felt a little excited. _I haven't eaten in a while, have I?_

"Here you are," Eirin said, spreading the blanket over Sakuya. Then she took out a thermometer and stuck it into Sakuya's mouth, pushing her hand to Sakuya's forehead.

"You do feel cold. Ice cold, almost," Eirin informed the sick girl.

She took out the thermometer and read the temperature on it. "100. That's strange...you feel cold, yet on the inside, you're burning up," Eirin remarked, setting the device on a table beside Sakuya's bed.

Meiling suddenly appeared beside Eirin with the bowl of soup still in her hands. "Oh, are you hungry? Here, Meiling, give her the soup," Eirin told the redhead, who gladly did what she was told.

"We forgot a spoon. Should I go get one?" Meiling asked Eirin, who shook her head.

"No, I can get one. I know where they are, anyway. You stay with Sakuya," Eirin ordered Meiling.

"Okay," Meiling said simply, and then sat down in the chair beside Sakuya's bed.

Sakuya enjoyed the warmth of the bowl of soup on her lap as she and Meiling waited for Eirin to return.

"So...how are you?" Meiling asked awkwardly, trying to start a conversation.

"Cold," Sakuya answered. "How is everyone back at the mansion?" Sakuya questioned.

"Everyone's doing great, but we're all really worried about you, Sakuya-san," Meiling told her. "We miss you."

Sakuya didn't say anything back for a few seconds. She was felt happy because her family was worried about her. "I miss you guys too," Sakuya finally managed to blurt out.

"We hope you feel better."

"I do too."

They were quiet for a minute, but then Sakuya remembered that she wanted to ask what the season was.

"Meiling? What is today?"

"Today is...hold on, let me think...today is August 3rd," Meiling answered.

"Oh." _So I_ haven't _been passed out for a long time...but still, I'm cold, and it's late summer?_

Suddenly, the door opened, and Sakuya was startled out of her thoughts.

Eirin entered the room and shut the door behind her, bearing a spoon in her right hand. "Here you are," Eirin said, standing beside Sakuya's bed so she could hand her the spoon. "Sorry it took so long. My rabbits are sometimes...a little crazy..." Eirin explained.

"It's okay. Thanks for the spoon," Sakuya said quickly, and then concentrated on eating her miso soup. She took a bite, and immediately was filled with joy. "It's delicious!" Sakuya exclaimed, and then took another bite. She had forgotten how good it felt to eat food, and she had forgotten what it was like to feel warm and full after a meal.

"I'm glad you liked it," Eirin said, taking Sakuya's bowl from her when she was finished. "By the way, Meiling, visiting hours are far from over, but you are welcome to stay the night here. We can prepare another room for you with no problems at all. Besides, Sakuya seems to enjoy your company," Eirin remarked, causing Sakuya to blush a little.

"I don't know...I think Patchouli-sama and Remilia-sama want me to go back home when I'm finished here. I have to fill in for Sakuya-san as head maid tomorrow, so I think it would be best for me to return home instead of staying the night," Meiling replied.

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind," Eirin said to Meiling before leaving the room to take care of Sakuya's dirty dishes.

Sakuya felt a little disappointed at the fact that Meiling wasn't going to be staying the night. Eirin was right; she did enjoy Meiling's company.

"So you're going to be filling in for me, starting tomorrow?" Sakuya asked, trying to strike up a conversation with Meiling.

"That's right. I used to be head maid at the mansion long before you were. They think I'll be able to do your job well enough that there won't be many complications," Meiling explained.

"I see," Sakuya said, and then broke off, coughing.

"You okay?" Meiling asked, suddenly rising from her chair. "Do I need to get Eirin?"

"No *cough* I'll be fine," Sakuya managed to squeak out before coughing once more. She stopped coughing after a while and looked over at the heart monitor beside her. It was beeping steadily along with her heart beat, and the noise began to calm her down.

The door opened, and Eirin appeared, holding a bottle of water. "I forgot to ask if you needed any water. If you need some, it'll be right here," Eirin said, placing the bottle of water on the table beside Sakuya's bed. Meiling immediately picked it up and opened it, offering it to Sakuya, who took the bottle and began to drink it in small sips.

"Oh, by the way, Patchouli, Remilia, another vampire, and a girl with little wings on her head are here to see Sakuya. Even though it's outside visiting hours, I'm going to allow them to see you. They'll be coming in shortly," Eirin informed the two girls.

"Okay," Meiling and Sakuya said in unison. _My family has come to visit me!_ Sakuya thought excitedly.

"Sakuya!" A voice suddenly shouted from the doorway. Sakuya looked to see Flandre running toward her at full speed. Flandre jumped onto Sakuya's bed and gave her a big hug. "Hello, little mistress!" Sakuya greeted the little vampire girl, petting her hair.

Remilia, Patchouli, and Koakuma all entered behind Flandre, but in a more adult-like manner.

"Sakuya! How are you doing?" Remilia asked, walking over to Sakuya's bedside and giving her a half-hug.

"I'm doing okay," Sakuya said, excited by the fact that everyone had come to see her.

"She had another seizure today," Meiling said once everyone had calmed down a bit. "It was really scary," Meiling admitted.

"That's terrible!" Flandre squeaked. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Sakuya told everyone. _But really, deep down, I don't think I'm going to be okay in the end._

"That's right! I'm sure that with Eirin's medicine and skill, Sakuya-san will be cured in no time!" Koakuma boosted, and everyone nodded their silent agreement.

"You're going to be fine, Sakuya," Remilia said, patting her head. "We all know you will."

Sakuya wished so very much that she could believe that. Even though she nodded and agreed that she would be fine on the outside, deep down, she didn't think that she would come out of this alive.

"I'll let you visit for another 10 minutes," Eirin announced, grabbing the entire group's attention. "But then, you must leave for the day. Sakuya needs her rest, and it's almost 10:00 at night. I will alert you over night if anything about her condition changes." Eirin left the room, leaving the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion alone to visit with Sakuya.

* * *

"Bye, Sakuya! We'll visit tomorrow!" Remilia called to her as the left the room, waving.

"Bye, Sakuya-san!" Meiling said, waving, and then the door shut behind her family and she was left alone in her room with Eirin.

"Here, let me take your temperature, please," Eirin said with the thermometer in her hand.

Sakuya opened her mouth and allowed Eirin to insert the thermometer under her tongue. She looked at Eirin as the doctor pulled out the thermometer. "Wow, it's dropped!" Eirin said, surprised. "You don't have a fever anymore."

Eirin set the thermometer on the table beside Sakuya's bed and then asked her to sit up. "I'm going to see how your heart and lungs sound. The heart monitor seems to display that you're fine, but I just want to make sure that there's nothing wrong with your heart or lungs," Eirin explained.

Sakuya obeyed, sitting up. She was wearing a hospital gown that she had changed into after Meiling had left that morning. Sakuya yawned as Eirin examined her, and then collapsed onto her pillow after she was finished.

"Nothing seems to be wrong with you. But you had seizures..." Eirin murmured. "Would you like anything to eat or drink before going to sleep?" Eirin asked.

"No, thank you..." Sakuya said sleepily.

"Come get me if you need anything," Eirin said before turning off the light and walking out the door, leaving Sakuya alone in her room.

* * *

Sakuya soon had drifted into a wonderful sleep where she dreamed she was serving Remilia and Patchouli some tea back at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She dreamed that Meiling wasn't sleeping at her post when she went outside to bring her back in for lunch.

And in her dream, she was feeling 100% fine. She wasn't having seizures, she wasn't throwing up, and she was feeling so fine that she was able to properly cook dinner. There were no big scary machines hooked up to her, and she didn't have to wear a hospital gown.

Everything in her dream was wonderful, oh so wonderful.

Suddenly, her dream shifted, and she was in front of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gates. Meiling wasn't at her post, and a gentle rain was coming down.

 _Huh,_ Sakuya thought to herself, _where's Meiling? Shouldn't she be at her post? The rain isn't that bad..._

Sakuya then looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds covering up the place where the sun should be. A glowing white circle represented the sun's light trying to get through the clouds. It was in the center of the sky, meaning that it was around noon.

 _Ah, it's lunch time. That must be why she's not at her post._

Suddenly, a big gust of wind blew, ruffling Sakuya's clothes and hair. The temperature suddenly dropped as well. _Wow, it's really cold,_ Sakuya thought, shivering and putting her hands on her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. _I'd better go inside and take shelter._

Sakuya walked through the Scarlet Devil Mansion's courtyard, bracing herself against the wind. Eventually, after fighting with the wind for a while, she had reached the mansion's door. She opened the door and let herself inside, struggling to close the door behind her.

Sakuya panted and sighed in relief when she finally shut the door, and then proceeded to find Remilia, Flandre, Patchouli, Koakuma, and Meiling in the mansion.

She walked down the hallway toward the dining room. _They all must be in the dining room, right? I mean, it_ is _lunch time..._ Sakuya thought as she entered the dining room.

She was right. Everyone was sitting at the table except Meiling. Remilia was sitting near the top of the table with Flandre at her left and Patchouli at her right. Koakuma sat beside Patchouli and there were two empty seats; one for Meiling, and one for Sakuya.

Sakuya stood in the hallway entrance to the dining room, about to take her seat at the dining table, but then she froze when she heard her name.

"I miss Sakuya," Flandre suddenly said, disturbing the silence of the room. "She was such a good person, and a good maid too. I'm not saying Meiling is a b-bad m-maid, I'm just s-saying that I m-miss Sakuya," Flandre whimpered, tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly, Flandre began to sob quietly, and Remilia wrapped an arm around her to comfort her little sister.

"I miss her too," Remilia said, and then reached up to wipe her eyes. "I miss her so much..."

"She was a very, very good maid," Patchouli said, tearing up a little too.

"What are you talking about?!" Sakuya suddenly shouted, jumping forward. "I'M RIGHT HERE!"

Everyone at the table ignored her and continued their discussion.

"I looked up to her," Koakuma confessed, her eyes filling up with tears. "She was such a good person, and was so dedicated to her work, and I wanted to try to be a little like her."

Sakuya suddenly walked forward and tried to give Flandre a comforting hug, but she just passed right through her. "What's going on?" Sakuya asked the table. "Stop playing tricks on me! This isn't funny!"

Everyone continued to ignore her, so Sakuya waved a hand in front of Remilia's face. "Ojou-sama! Look at me! See, I'm here!" Sakuya said, getting desperate. Remilia's eyes weren't on Sakuya though. It was as if Sakuya had just suddenly stopped existing.

Sakuya noticed that Flandre was still crying. She also noticed that her eyelids were red and puffy, along with tear tracks running down her cheeks.

Remilia had also begun to cry a little, but not as much as Flandre. Even Patchouli and Koakuma were crying.

Suddenly, Meiling entered the room, carrying 4 plates at once. She set down a plate in front of Patchouli, Koakuma, and Remilia, but stopped when she reached Flandre. "Flandre?" Meiling asked, a look of concern crossing her face. "Why are you crying?"

Meiling looked around at the table and noticed that everyone had been crying. "Why are you _all_ crying?"

"We were talking about-"

"Flandre!" Remilia said, cutting her off. She leaned really close to Flandre's ear, and Sakuya had to get up close to hear what she was saying. "You know how Meiling gets when she's mentioned," Remilia whispered very softly. "I don't want what happened then to happen now, so please don't mention her," Remilia begged, her tone still very, very low.

"Okay, onee-sama."

"We were talking about that stupid romance comedy movie we recently watched," Remilia said, making something up off the top of her head. "It was so cheesy that everyone started crying."

"Oh yeah," Meiling said, setting down Flandre's plate, "that movie was _really_ cheesy," Meiling agreed. "I'll be right back; I have to go get my plate," Meiling explained, leaving the room.

"Nice save," Patchouli said after Meiling had left. "You probably just prevented a plate from getting broken and a _lot_ of tears."

"What do you mean? Why would a plate be broken?" Sakuya asked, confused. "And why would there be tears?"

"Thank you," Remilia said, sighing in relief. "But I'm afraid she might figure it out on her own if she thinks about it too much..."

"Meiling is a little too laid-back to dwell on things too much, right? I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, that movie was _really_ cheesy. I'm sure anyone would've cried about it after watching it," Patchouli joked, earning a few laughs from everyone.

Meiling entered once more with a plate of her own and sat down in a chair beside Flandre. The chair to her left was empty. It was the chair in which Sakuya normally sat.

Sakuya decided to take a seat in the chair. Luckily, she didn't pass through it like she had done with Flandre. "Meiling," Sakuya said to the former gate-guard. "What's going on? Why would a plate break?" Sakuya asked.

Meiling ignored her and began to eat.

"Meiling!" Sakuya said again, this time a little louder. "Meiling, it's rude to ignore people, you know."

"So, how is the meal? I tried cooking something a little different this time," Meiling suddenly asked, looking up from her food.

"It's great!" Remilia exclaimed happily. "This is one of the best meals I've ever tasted!"

"It's a wonderful meal. Good job, Meiling," Patchouli said, smiling a little at her.

"Yes, I agree!" Koakuma said, and went right back to eating.

Flandre seemed to be too focused on eating to congratulate Meiling.

"Hey, Meiling!" Sakuya tried again. "Why won't you answer me?"

"Thank you," Meiling said humbly, and went back to eating.

"MEILING!" Sakuya shouted into her ear. "ANSWER ME, PLEASE!" Sakuya yelled. It pained her that even Meiling wouldn't answer her.

"That's it!" Sakuya said, standing up. She tried to pick up the chair, but it was fixed to the floor. She pulled and pulled on the chair, yet it wouldn't budge.

Sakuya hadn't tried to interact with any of the other people at the table. She tried to grab Remilia's wrist, but she just passed right through her. She attempted what was supposed to be a pat on the shoulder with Patchouli, but instead, she ended up passing through her as well. She tried Koakuma as well, but got the same results as before.

"Why is this happening?" Sakuya whimpered. "I can't interact with anyone!" Sakuya cried.

Then she remembered that she hadn't tried Meiling yet. "There's still hope!" Sakuya said, rushing over to Meiling's side and tapped her gently on the shoulder.

Suddenly, a flash of white came over her, and she opened her eyes to find herself in her room at Eientei.

She glanced to her left and saw Meiling sleeping in her chair beside Sakuya's bed. _What time is it?_ Sakuya thought, searching frantically for a clock. She spotted one on the wall and quickly read it. _1:29 in the afternoon? Wow, I slept for a while..._ Sakuya realized, and sighed to herself.

Meiling stirred, and her eyes popped open. She rubbed them a little before yawning and glancing around the room at her surroundings. Then she noticed Sakuya laying in bed and seemed to remember what she was doing there. "Oh, hello, Sakuya-san. How are you feeling today?" Meiling asked her, still looking a little sleepy.

"I guess I feel okay," Sakuya said, and yawned. She still felt tired, even though she had slept for most of the day.

"Do you think you can come back to the mansion soon?" Meiling asked. "We all miss you very much."

"I don't know..." Sakuya said, and yawned again.

"I'll take your temperature," Meiling told her, and grabbed the thermometer from the night stand and inserted it into Sakuya's mouth. The red liquid went all the way up to the 104 mark. "You have a fever!" Meiling gasped. "I'll go get Eirin!"

Meiling jumped up and ran out of the room, closing the door softly behind herself.

Sakuya put a hand to her own forehead. _I don't_ feel _feverish..._ Sakuya thought. She took the thermometer out of her mouth and read the results. Sure enough, she had a fever, and it was a pretty high one, too. _Was that dream because of my fever? It must have been...I don't think I've ever dreamed up something that terrifying before._

Suddenly, the door opened, making Sakuya jump. Eirin rushed in, holding a bottle of medicine and a bottle of water. She set the water down on the table and opened up the medicine.

"Here, swallow this pill," Eirin ordered, dropping a small pink pill in her hand. Then she opened up the water bottle and offered it to Sakuya, which she gladly took.

She used the water to help her swallow her pill. It was easy to swallow, considering how small it was.

Meiling entered the room softly and took a seat back in her chair beside Sakuya's bed.

"Are you going to be okay?" Meiling asked, concerned.

"I think so," Sakuya replied.

"That pill may make you feel a little sleepy, but that's what it's supposed to do. You can go to sleep if you feel like it. It will help your fever," Eirin told her.

"Okay. Thank you," Sakuya said, and then yawned. The pill seemed to already be taking over her body and making her feel tired.

"Are you hungry? Would you like anything to eat?" Eirin questioned her.

Strangely, Sakuya wasn't feeling very hungry that morning. "No, thank you," Sakuya said, and then rolled over, facing the opposite direction of Meiling and Eirin.

"Well, if you need anything, Meiling will be right here," Eirin informed Sakuya, and then walked out of the room.

"How did you sleep?" Meiling asked Sakuya, trying to start a conversation.

Sakuya thought about telling Meiling about her dream, and how everyone ignored her when she tried to talk to them. But then she decided not to, thinking that her dream might sound a little odd. "I slept okay..."

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"No...why do you ask?"

"You were calling out in your sleep earlier."

"Oh."

Sakuya laid back in bed, sighing. _Gosh, I feel so tired...I'm going to sleep..._ Sakuya thought as she shifted into a comfortable position in which she could fall asleep in. She closed her eyes and was slowly pulled into a deep, deep, dreamless sleep.

 **Thanks for reading! The next chapter will probably be up soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the late update! Here's the next chapter.**

"Ah," Meiling sighed, stretching. "Who knew Sakuya had such a difficult job?" She to herself, looking down the hall at what she still had to clean. The fairy maids helped her a lot, but it was still a difficult and time-consuming job. "Speaking of Sakuya, I wonder how she's doing," Meiling said to a fairy maid.

The fairy maid just shrugged and went back to cleaning.

Meiling sighed and knelt down to take the rag out of the bucket of soapy water on the floor. She began scrubbing the floor, continuing where she had left off.

Sakuya had fallen asleep, and Meiling remembered that she still had a lot of work to do, so she went back to the mansion to finish up her job. Eirin told her that she could come back the next day to visit Sakuya, and that she would have Reisen alert the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion immediately if anything happened.

 _I really hope she's going to be okay,_ Meiling thought to herself, dipping the rag back into the water. _I remember when she first came to the mansion..._

 _(Flashback)_

 _"Ah, Lady Remilia!" Meiling called to the vampire that was approaching the mansion. She seemed to be holding something in her arms._

 _"Meiling! Please get Patchouli, quickly!" Remilia said urgently._

 _Meiling nodded, and ran inside the mansion to find Patchouli. She opened the doors to the library and ran to Patchouli's desk._

 _"Patchouli, please come immediately! Lady Remilia needs your help!" Meiling said in a panicked tone. Remilia seemed really scared for some reason, and Meiling didn't like it._

 _"Okay," Patchouli said calmly, and the two flew out of the mansion where they found Remilia collapsed on the ground, still holding something._

 _"Remilia, are you alright?" Patchouli asked, bending down. "What's wrong?"_

 _"This human child is hurt badly," Remilia said, panting. "I thought about drinking her blood, but she was hurt, and vulnerable, and that would've been unfair of me...she just looked so helpless..." Remilia explained, still panting. "So...please, help this child," Remilia begged, holding a small toddler outward._

 _Patchouli nodded and took the child from Remilia, who was still trying to catch her breath. "Don't worry. I'll nurse this child back to health," Patchouli reassured Remilia, holding the child close to her body. Patchouli turned away from Remilia and Meiling and took her inside, closing the mansion's door behind her._

 _"Lady Remilia, do you need anything?" Meiling asked, concerned._

 _"No, I should be alright. I'm just a little tired..." Remilia said, and rose to her feet. "I just hope that child would be okay. It would have been brutal of me to drink that child's blood tonight..." Remilia trailed off, setting off toward the mansion. "Retire for the night, Meiling. Let's go see how that child is doing," Remilia ordered._

 _"Yes, Lady Remilia," Meiling obeyed, following her mistress inside the mansion._

* * *

 _"Ah, Remilia. She's doing okay; she's just lost a lot of blood from this big cut on her side," Patchouli said whenever Remilia and Meiling entered the library. "I should be able to fix her up in no time at all," Patchouli reassured them as she bandaged up the child's side. The toddler was lying on a table, slowly inhaling and exhaling. Meiling took note of the clothing she was wearing: ragged, old clothing with a few holes in the tunic she was wearing._

 _"Wonderful. Meiling, please prepare something for this child to eat. She's bound to be hungry when she wakes up...look at how skinny she is!" Remilia gasped, rushing over to the child's side._

 _"I'll prepare something warm for her, Lady Remilia," Meiling told her as she left the library. She decided to prepare some miso soup and rice._ It's always nice to have miso soup on a cold night like this, _Meiling thought to herself, chopping up a few carrots and adding them to the boiling pot of water and broth._

 _Meiling began to cook the rice, checking on the soup once in a while. Noticing everything was cooked, she poured the rice and soup into separate bowls and put them on a tray along with a glass of water._ I hope the child will like this, _Meiling said, picking up the tray. Then she stopped, remembering the child's clothes._ I bet there's a spare fairy maid uniform around here somewhere, _Meiling thought, running toward the fairy maid's closet in the mansion._

 _She quickly picked out a uniform for the child to wear, and took it to the library along with the tray of food._

 _"Oh, good, you brought food for her. She's just waking up," Patchouli informed Meiling when she walked in._

 _"I brought a fairy maid uniform for her to wear as well," Meiling explained, setting the tray down on a small coffee table._

 _"Oh, good! But I won't allow her to wear that for long," Remilia said. "She needs to wear proper clothes if she's going to live here with us."_

 _"Remilia, are you sure you want to adopt this child?" Patchouli asked._

 _"Of course! She can work here with Meiling," Remilia decided. "It'll be fun!"  
"But what if she has a family?"_

 _"What kind of family would abandon their child in the middle of a forest?" Remilia scowled. "We'll be her family."_

 _"She's waking up!" Meiling gasped as the child's eyes fluttered a bit and opened. They were a brilliant red color and they went with her silver hair perfectly._

 _"Hello," Remilia greeted the child._

 _"Wh-who are you? Where am I?" The child stuttered, sitting up. She immediately began coughing, her body shaking violently._

 _"I'm Remilia Scarlet," Remilia said, pointing to herself. "That's Patchouli Knowledge," Remilia said, motioning to Patchouli, "and that's Hong Meiling," Remilia said, pointing to the redhead. "Who are you?"  
The child shook her head. _

_"Do you have a family? Where's your mother, child?" Patchouli asked softly._

 _"I d-don't have a family. My mommy died because the people thought she was dumb for protecting me from them," the toddler explained._

 _"Why was she protecting you from them?" Meiling asked the child. "What have they done to you?"_

 _"They hate me because my eyes are red," the child explained. "They think I'm a witch because I have these powers..."_

 _"Powers?" Remilia questioned._

 _Suddenly, the child disappeared out of thin air. "Where'd she go?" Meiling gasped, pointing to where the child previously was._

 _"Ah, I see," Patchouli said, pointing to the child. She was sitting on the floor, eating the food that Meiling had prepared and wearing the fairy maid outfit. "She can stop time."_

 _Everyone was silent for a little while, watching the child eat. The toddler made cute little noises of satisfaction as she drank some of the milk._

 _"Well...you can live with us. We'll be your family," Remilia said to the child. "We'll need a name for you, though."_

 _Remilia paced back and forth, thinking of a good name. Finally, she stopped pacing, her wings perked up in delight. "From this day forth, you shall now be known as Sakuya Izayoi!" Remilia said to the child._

 _The child, now known as Sakuya Izayoi, looked up at Remilia, her upper lip coated with milk. "Okay," Sakuya nodded, and then licked her upper lip to try and get the milk off._

 _(End of flashback)_

 _She was so cute back then!_ Meiling thought, smiling to herself. _I just wonder how she's doing...poor girl..._

* * *

The next afternoon, after Meiling had finished up a few floors, she went over to Eientei to visit Sakuya so she could report back to Patchouli about Sakuya's status.

Upon her arrival, she was greeted at the door by Reisen and immediately taken to Sakuya's room. "Eirin wants to speak with you," Reisen whispered so Sakuya couldn't hear, and shut the door behind herself, leaving Meiling alone in the room with Sakuya.

Meiling turned around to find Sakuya sitting upright in bed, staring into space. She sat beside Sakuya's bed in her usual spot. "So...how are you?" Meiling asked, startling Sakuya out of her thoughts.

"Oh...Meiling," Sakuya said softly. "I'm doing fine," she said, yawning. "Eirin did a bunch of tests on me yesterday when I woke up," Sakuya explained. "She had Yukari bring a bunch of equipment from the outside world and she used it to do a bunch of tests on me."

"What kind of tests?"

"Uh..." Sakuya trailed off, yawning. "I don't remember...what about you? What did you do yesterday? When I woke up, you weren't there."  
"I cleaned the mansion and served food to everyone," Meiling answered. Then she studied Sakuya's face in more depth. She quickly noticed that there were big, dark, black bags under her eyes and her face looked worn and thin. It almost looked as though she hadn't had sleep for days.

"Sakuya-san, are you alright?" Meiling asked, horrified by Sakuya's face.

"Yeah. Just tired," Sakuya said, yawning.

"Did Eirin do something to you? Have you been eating? Are you okay?" Meiling asked, bombarding her with questions.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in came Eirin. "Meiling, if you would please come with me..." Eirin said, holding the door open for the redheaded girl. "I have some important matters to discuss with you," Eirin said, motioning for her to follow.

Meiling obliged, sensing that whatever Eirin had to say was serious by the look on her face. "Okay," Meiling said, rising from her chair and leaving the room with Eirin.

She followed Eirin down the hallway and toward a small room with a desk and two chairs. Eirin sat in one of the chairs behind the desk and Meiling sat across from her. "Ah, could you shut the door?" Eirin asked.

Meiling nodded and got up to shut the door. She returned to her seat to find Eirin with glasses on, shuffling a few papers and putting them some into drawers and some on her desk.

"How are you?" Eirin asked, looking up at Meiling.

"I'm great, how are you?" Meiling asked.

"I'm good...I can't say Sakuya is though."  
"Why?"

"Well...she's been eating and drinking like a normal person, but she's been sleeping a lot more that the normal person should. She slept for about 16 hours yesterday, which is extremely abnormal, even for a sick person," Eirin explained. "I'm sure Sakuya mentioned that I ran some tests on her, correct?"

"Yes, she told me that Yukari brought a bunch of machines from the outside world to Eientei," Meiling nodded.

"Well...those tests all came back negative, except for one. The one that came back positive was a test for a brain tumor. That's why she's sleeping so much and that's why she's having seizures and throwing up.

"I ran a few more tests on her after that one came back positive. Her tumor is unfortunately in the more advanced stages of brain tumors and there's not much of a chance she's going to come back from this alive.

"I put her on a steroid treatment to slow down the tumor, but I don't know how long she's got left. Gradually, as she gets closer to the end, she'll start sleeping more, and it'll get harder and harder to wake her up. She's going to be drowsy in her waking hours and she'll want to go back to sleep. One day, we won't be able to wake her, because she'll already be gone," Eirin finished, her tone grim and filled with grief. "I'm so sorry."

Meiling remained silent, trying to soak in everything that Eirin had just told her. Her face hardened as she realized what Eirin was trying to tell her.

Eirin was trying to tell her that Sakuya was going to die.

"If you have any questions, I'm right here," Eirin said, looking at Meiling with concern.

"Questions? Of course I have questions," Meiling snarled. She leapt up from her chair, and pointed at Eirin. "HOW CAN YOU LET SAKUYA DIE?! HOW CAN YOU JUST SIT THERE WITH YOUR STUPID LITTLE GLASSES ON AND JUST LET HER DIE?! WHY CAN'T YOU HELP HER?! WHY CAN'T YOU GET YUKARI TO USE SOME OUTSIDE WORLD MAGIC TO FIX HER UP?! WHY? WHY? _WHY!?"_ Meiling screamed, ending with punching the wall. Her fist went deep into the wall, wood flying outward and onto Eirin's desk.

"Meiling," Eirin said calmly.

"WHAT?!" Meiling shouted at Eirin, her adrenaline pulsing.

"Please sit down."  
Meiling was about to protest, but thought better of it, and took a seat back in her chair.

"If I could fix her, do you think I would do it?" Eirin asked calmly. "If I could make her all better, do you think I would?"

Meiling remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"I understand why you're angry. You don't want to see her go because you love her. Even though you knew that she would be the one leaving you behind someday, you still feel angry about it," Eirin said softly. "I don't like people in my care dying. I don't want Sakuya to die. But, sometimes, there are things that I can't cure. I can slow her tumor down, but I can't make it go away completely."

Meiling was quiet for a long time, but then she spoke up. "I'm sorry I got angry at you and punched a hole in the wall."

"That's okay. I can always have Reisen and Tewi fix it," Eirin told her.

"Are you going to tell Sakuya?"

"About her brain tumor? Do you want me to?" Eirin asked.

"I don't know...I think she'll be really scared about dying and I don't want her to be afraid...but I also don't want to keep the truth away from her..." Meiling trailed off, deep in thought.

"The truth is always best knowing, but I'll let you decide what you want to do."

"You should tell her..." Meiling said. "It's best for her to learn about it from you, since you're the doctor..."

"Then I'll tell her. Should we go right now?"

"Yes...thank you, Eirin."

The two left Eirin's office and walked down to Sakuya's room, where they found Sakuya sitting up in bed, twiddling her thumbs and looking around the room. She perked up when she saw Meiling and Eirin enter.

"Hello," Sakuya yawned.

"Sakuya, I have important information I'd like you to hear," Eirin began, looking at Meiling to get permission to continue.

Meiling nodded nervously. How would Sakuya react?  
"Sakuya, the test we ran on you for brain tumors came back positive. Unfortunately, it is fatal. I'm going to put you on a steroid treatment to slow down the tumor, but I won't be able to cure you."

Sakuya was quiet for a moment, and then she shrugged. "I guessed it was something like that. How long do I have?" Sakuya asked Eirin.

"I don't know. If I find out, I'll tell you immediately," Eirin answered.

"Okay."

 _Sakuya is being really calm about this...is she scared? What's going through her head?_ Meiling thought to herself.

"Are you hungry? Would you like to eat something?" Eirin asked Sakuya.

"Yes please. Thank you Eirin," Sakuya replied.

Eirin nodded and left the room. Meiling sat down beside Sakuya's bed in her usual chair, and looked at Sakuya.

"Sakuya-san, are you sure you're alright?" Meiling asked.

Suddenly, Sakuya threw her arms around Meiling and began sobbing. Meiling, startled, didn't know what to do, so she just gently wrapped her arms around Sakuya's frail body.

"Of course I'm not alright!" Sakuya sobbed, burying her face into Meiling's chest. She lifted her head up to look at Meiling. "I don't want to die, Meiling. I'm so scared," she whimpered, tears falling down her face. "I just want to live at the mansion with Ojou-sama, Patchouli-sama, the little mistress, Koakuma, and you, Meiling. I just want to live and be happy with you guys. But I guess that's too much to wish for, isn't it? Because I'm going to die, and there's nothing I can do to stop it," Sakuya sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Wanting to be with your family isn't too much to wish for," Meiling told Sakuya. "It isn't your fault that you're going to die. I don't want you to die either. I want all of us to be happy together. It's okay that you're scared. I'm glad you don't want to die. I wish none of this would have ever happened to you. But sometimes things like this happen, and they're terrible things. In these cases, you should hold your head high and live everyday likes it's going to be your last, because your time is limited now. You should try and spend as much time as you can with your loved ones, because you'll regret not being with them when you're down to your last days," Meiling told her.

Sakuya smiled, and then reached up to kiss Meiling softly on the lips. "Thank you, Meiling," Sakuya said, smiling. "I love you."  
Meiling smiled back. "I love you too."

 **I just realized that one of the genres is Angst instead of Romance...I'm going to have to change that...**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review and tell me how I'm doing ^ ^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the long update. Anyway, here's the next chapter!  
**

Suddenly, the door opened, causing Meiling and Sakuya to jerk a little in surprise. In the doorway stood Eirin, carrying a tray of food in her hands.

"Here's your food," Eirin told Sakuya, offering the tray of food to her.

"Thank you," Sakuya said, taking the tray from Eirin.

Eirin clapped her hands together to gather their attention. "I have some good news and bad news," Eirin announced.

Sakuya and Meiling turned their full attention to Eirin.

"The good news is that because the outside world is so advanced, they have already developed a way to remove and treat brain tumors. The bad news is that it would take several months to get into the outside world and fill out all of the paperwork necessary to have the tumor removed. We would have to have a birth certificate and documents displaying your medical history," Eirin informed them.

"So, I can be cured?" Sakuya asked desperately.

"Yes, but if you don't have a birth certificate, we're going to have a lot of trouble sneaking into the outside world and getting a surgery performed on your tumor. If there's still some of the tumor left over, you'll have to do radiation or chemotherapy to make sure it's completely gone. Your tumor may not even be able to be removed at all, since it's at such an advanced stage. So you can either stay here in Gensokyo and allow the tumor to develop further and...or you can try to get into the outside world to have your tumor treated," Eirin answered.

Sakuya and Meiling were both quiet.  
"I'll let you think about it. I wouldn't spend too much time deciding what you want to do; your time is limited," Eirin said, and left the room.

Sakuya didn't say anything, and just started eating the food that Eirin had kindly brought to her. _You can either stay here in Gensokyo and allow the tumor to develop further, or you can try to get into the outside world to have your tumor treated,_ Sakuya recalled what Eirin had said as she ate.

Suddenly, the world swayed, and everything went black as Sakuya felt her body begin to jerk and shudder.

* * *

Sakuya slowly opened her eyes and was immediately face-to-face with Flandre Scarlet.

"Sakuya's awake!" Flandre shouted.

"Sakuya! We were so worried about you! Meiling said that you had another seizure!" Remilia said from somewhere.

Sakuya turned her head to see Remilia Scarlet standing on the other side of her bed, looking worried. "Hello, Ojou-sama," Sakuya said, yawning.

"Eirin told us everything. I think you should go to the outside world and at least try to get it removed. I have tried to change your fate multiple times, but it's too late. The tumor is extremely advanced and can't be removed unless we get into the outside world to have it removed," Remilia suggested. "But, it's your decision."

Sakuya yawned again and sat up, looking around the room. She noticed that Meiling was missing, but Patchouli, Koakuma, Flandre, and Remilia were all there.

"I agree with Remilia," Patchouli told Sakuya, coming to stand at her bedside. "You should at least _try_ to get it fixed."  
"Yeah...probably..." Sakuya mumbled, and yawned once more. For some reason, she was feeling very, very tired.

"I don't know how we'll be able to get into the outside world though..." Remilia trailed off. She began pacing back and forth, her hand on her chin, as though she was in deep thought. Then she stopped, snapping her fingers. "I've got it!" Remilia exclaimed.

"What is it?" Patchouli asked.

"Well, we're going to need to go to either Reimu or Yukari to have the border taken down first. I'll explain the details later if we can get through the border," Remilia said. "But I think the hardest part will be getting them to take down the border for a moment so we can get through. Patchouli, you and I should go see them later on during the week and see if they can take down the border. If we can't get them to take down the border, we'll just have Flandre _make_ a way into the outside world," Remilia stated. "At no cost will we fail to get Sakuya's tumor removed. Clear?" Remilia asked.

"Clear," everyone in the room echoed back.

"Good. Patchouli, let's go to Reimu's first. She'll probably be the most easy to persuade about taking some of the border down," Remilia said, motioning for Patchouli to follow her.

"Right now?" Patchouli asked. "Are you sure? It's probably dinnertime for Reimu right now, and I think we all know how she gets when someone messes with her during her own personal time..." Patchouli trailed off, getting a few laughs from everyone.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go tomorrow morning. We'll take Meiling with us. She's really good at begging people to do things for her," Remilia told Patchouli.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Eirin appeared in the doorway. "Visiting hours are over," she announced.

"Ah, man!" Flandre exclaimed. "Well, bye-bye Sakuya! We'll visit tomorrow!" Flandre reassured the sick girl, pulling Sakuya into a big bear hug.

"See you tomorrow, Sakuya!" Remilia said as she walked out the door.

The door shut behind her family with a soft bang. Sakuya sank into her pillow, sighing. She felt so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open, but when she tried to fall asleep again, she found that she was unable to fall asleep. So there she lay, staring up at the ceiling, feeling exhausted, but unable to do anything about her exhaustion.

 _Where was Meiling when my family was visiting me?_ Sakuya wondered. _Probably performing her duties as a maid back at the mansion...it certainly is difficult to clean the whole mansion in one day. The mansion..._ Sakuya thought nostalgically, remembering the large, vast, red mansion. She sighed as she thought about how she wasn't able to be there with her family. On a normal day, she wouldn't be lying in bed, trying to go to sleep. On a normal day, she would be at the mansion, cooking meals and sweeping the floors.

 _I wish this never had to happen to me. I wish I weren't a human who was so vulnerable to catching illnesses like this._

With that thought, Sakuya closed her eyes and tried falling asleep again. This time, she was able to find success in sleep and ended up sleeping for the rest of the day.

* * *

Meiling awoke to her alarm clock going off. She sighed, lifting the clock off of her night stand to turn it off. It was 5:00 in the morning: the time that she had to wake up at if she wanted to get the whole mansion cleaned by the time she needed to start cooking dinner.

 _Sakuya really has a difficult job...poor girl...ah, Sakuya! Lady Remilia and Lady Patchouli wanted me to come with them to see the shrine maiden this morning...they said something about opening up the border...I better wake them in a few hours..._ Meiling thought to herself as she got out of bed and put on her uniform. _I'll start making breakfast and then wake them when I'm finished._

Meiling exited her room and went down to the kitchen, where she began to make breakfast. _I'll make omelets for everyone._

Meiling got out the carton of eggs and took out ten of them. She got out five pans and cracked two eggs into each pan. Then she turned on the stove and began to shred up ham, cheese, onions, and green onions onto a plate. She spread the ingredients onto the omelet when she thought the egg had finished cooking, and then folded each omelet over and slid them all onto their own plates.

 _I'd better go wake them now while breakfast is still warm,_ Meiling thought as she carried each plate into the dining room, setting them in their designated spots. She looked at the chair where Sakuya normally sat and felt herself tearing up a little. She missed Sakuya's presence at the mansion.

Meiling sighed sadly to herself and wiped her eyes a little. _It's okay. She'll live through this,_ Meiling told herself. _We'll get Reimu and Yukari to take down a bit of the border so we can get Sakuya's tumor fixed. Then everything will go back to normal and Sakuya will be back at the mansion._

The former gate-guard began her journey to Remilia's room first because she was the closet to the kitchen. Meiling opened the door to her mistress' room softly. "Lady Remilia, breakfast is ready. Please come down and eat it while it's warm," Meiling announced loudly so Remilia would be woken up.

Remilia sat up and yawned. "Mmmm..." She groaned. "I'll be down in a moment..."

Meiling closed the door softly and then went to the library. She was a bit surprised to find that Patchouli was already awake, sipping tea that Koakuma had probably prepared. "Oh, good morning, Meiling. Is breakfast ready?" Patchouli asked her, setting down her tea cup.

"Yes. Please come down and eat it while it's warm," Meiling replied.

Patchouli rose from her seat and yawned. "Okay," the mage said, and motioned for Koakuma to follow her. The three girls exited the library quietly.

"Lady Patchouli, were you up all night again?" Meiling asked politely.

"No, I just got up a little early today. Don't worry, I haven't been awake for too long. Only for about five or six minutes," Patchouli answered.

Patchouli, Koakuma, and Meiling parted ways; Patchouli and Koakuma headed to the dining room and Meiling headed to the basement to retrieve Flandre.

Meiling knocked on the basement door, and then opened it softly. "Little mistress, please wake up," Meiling said loudly. "Breakfast is ready. Please come eat it while it's warm."

Meiling saw something shift in the darkness, and Meiling could clearly pick out Flandre's wings in the dark. "Okay, I'll be down in a moment," Flandre said back, yawning a little at the end of her statement.

Meiling nodded. She closed the door and walked back down to the dining room, where Patchouli, Remilia, and Koakuma were already sitting there, eating. Meiling joined them at the table, and then Flandre walked in and sat down.

"Flandre, we'll be going to the Hakurei Shrine today to try and convince Reimu to open up the border, so I need you to stay behind and watch the house. Don't destroy anything while we're gone. Understood?" Remilia asked her sister.

Flandre nodded, picking up her napkin from her lap to wipe her mouth before speaking. "Yes, onee-chan! Understood!" Flandre exclaimed, smiling.

"Good girl. Now, are we ready to go to the shrine?" Remilia asked, turning to Patchouli and Meiling.

Meiling and Patchouli both nodded once. They had literally just finished breakfast, and they felt like it was about time for them to go to the shrine. So they left the mansion, waving goodbye to Flandre, and took off toward the Hakurei Shrine.

"It's a little chilly out here, isn't it?" Meiling commented as they landed.

"Yeah. It _is_ getting close to winter time..." Patchouli responded.

The three girls looked forward at the shrine in front of them. Reimu was already outside, sweeping the shrine's grounds with her back to the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Reimu!" Remilia called, walking toward her with Meiling and Patchouli in tow.

Reimu turned around and noticed them walking toward her. She picked the broom she was using up off the ground and walked toward them as well. "Good morning, Remilia. What brings you here?" Reimu asked, glancing at Meiling and Patchouli.

"Sakuya has a deadly brain tumor and according to Eirin, the outside world already has the technology to cure it. But we can't get into the outside world while the border is up, so...would you mind taking it down for us so we can get her brain tumor cured?" Remilia asked, trying to be polite as she possibly could.

Reimu was quiet for a moment, and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you."  
"Why not?" A voice suddenly asked.

Everyone turned to see Yukari poking her head out of a gap she had made beside them. "Why can't you help them, Reimu?" Yukari asked, her fan covering her mouth.

"Because if we took down the border for even a second, humans could get in from the outside world, and then we could risk having Gensokyo discovered. We can't have people running around outside the border looking for the 'mysterious youkai land'. Besides, it's too much trouble to take it down and put it back up anyway, so that's why I can't help them. I'm not saying I want Sakuya to die; I don't want anybody who lives in Gensokyo to die. But we can't risk _everyone_ in Gensokyo just for one resident. How would we even know to let you back in when you're finished in the outside world? And wouldn't it be a little odd to have someone with large bat-like wings walking around town, looking to get their maid's brain tumor fixed?" Reimu answered. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry it has to be this way," she finished.

Yukari chuckled a little behind her fan. "I'm sure it'll be fine for just a few moments, Reimu. The city outside Gensokyo is known for it's cosplayers, so Remilia's wings will be fine. As for communication, I could always just go to the outside world every once and a while and check on them," Yukari told Reimu. "But, it's your decision." Yukari chuckled again and with that, she disappeared.

Reimu sighed. "All right," Reimu finally said, "I'll take down the border for you. But you have to make it quick, okay? Also, don't talk about Gensokyo when you're in the outside world. Yukari will give you some outside world currency that you can use to get food and a place to stay for a while. Best of luck to you that her surgery goes well. I suggest that you pack lightly, if you're planning on taking anything. When you're all set and ready to go to the outside world, come see me once more. I'll have Yukari follow you around and help you out if you need it," Reimu told them, and then went back to sweeping.

Remilia curtsied a little. "Thank you so much, Reimu," Remilia thanked her, and then the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion left the Hakurei Shrine.

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

"SAKUYA! SAKUYA! Wake up!" Flandre yelled, jumping on the bed Sakuya was lying in.

Sakuya woke up, rubbing her eyes. She looked around to see Remilia Scarlet, Patchouli Knowledge, and Hong Meiling standing in the room. "Oh, good morning," Sakuya said, yawning.

"It's the afternoon," Remilia chuckled, patting Sakuya on the head. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel okay," Sakuya said, and yawned once more, rubbing her eyes to try and wake herself up.

"We met with Reimu this morning and she said she'll let us through the border to get your surgery done," Patchouli explained. "So we'll be discharging you from Eientei to get the surgery done."

Sakuya nodded, a little excited about going to the outside world, but extremely scared because she didn't know if she could really be cured.

"Can you stand?" Meiling asked, rushing over to her bedside when Sakuya put her feet over the edge of her bed and tried to rise. Meiling supported Sakuya by putting one hand on her back and one on her shoulder, standing behind the sick girl in case she fell backward.

Sakuya felt a little lightheaded as she tried to make it to the door with Meiling guiding her. _It's just because I've been laying down for so long,_ Sakuya tried to tell herself. But she couldn't help but think that she was feeling lightheaded for a different reason.

"Here, let me get the door for you," Remilia said, rushing to hold open door for Meiling and Sakuya.

Sakuya blushed as she walked out of the door with Meiling supporting her. "I...I think I've got it now, Meiling," she stuttered as Meiling pulled away from her. Surprisingly, she didn't fall over, but she had to try hard to keep her balance as they walked toward Eientei's front desk.

Reisen was sitting there at the desk, writing a few things on some papers and filing them in some drawers. The long-eared girl looked up and smiled when she noticed them standing there. "What can I do for you? Ah, you must be discharging Sakuya from the hospital! Here, let me get the paperwork you need to fill out..." Reisen said as she shuffled through a few papers in a cabinet above the desk. She pulled out a few from the cabinet and handed them to Remilia. Then she grabbed a feather pen from a small cup and handed it to Remilia to write with. "There you go. Please bring it to me when you are finished. Sakuya, are you hungry? I can prepare some food for you while you wait; you're technically still a patient until Remilia hands me that paperwork," Reisen explained.

Sakuya nodded as her stomach grumbled loudly when she thought of food. She yawned and went to sit down in one of the lobby chairs beside Remilia. The rest of the Scarlet Devil Mansion residents that had come to visit Sakuya followed in suit.

Reisen disappeared into a back area and came back with a bowl of soup. "I prepared some when you guys came to visit Sakuya. It should be the perfect temperature," Reisen explained, handing the soup and a spoon to Sakuya.

"Thank you," Sakuya thanked Reisen, and then ate her soup, not wanting to waste another minute.

"Yes, thank you, Reisen. Thank you so much for taking care of Sakuya while she was here," Remilia said, handing Reisen the finished paperwork and the pen.

"No problem. You're welcome anytime you need help," Reisen told them, smiling, and started walking away. "When you're finished, Sakuya, you can just leave your bowl on the counter. I'll take care of it later," Reisen said over her shoulder, and then got back to work at the desk.

"Patchouli, are our bags back at the mansion?" Remilia asked, turning to the purple mage.

"Yes, I believe we left them there. Our initial plan was to go back and get them when we were ready to leave, right?" Patchouli asked.

"Yeah, but how are we going to get Sakuya back to the mansion and then to the shrine? Won't that over-exert her?" Remilia debated.

Patchouli nodded at Meiling. "She should be able to carry her," Patchouli stated.

"Good idea!" Remilia exclaimed.

"What?" Sakuya asked, setting down her soup on a small table in the waiting room and wiping her mouth.

"We've decided Meiling will carry you!" Flandre answered, giggling.

Meiling and Sakuya both turned beet red. "Uh...okay...yeah...here, let me take your bowl..." Meiling trailed off, grabbing Sakuya's bowl and putting it on the counter.

Flandre giggled and Remilia let out a few soft chuckles as Meiling sat back down.

Remilia cleared her throat and got up to stand in front of the group. "Okay, so here's the plan. Meiling, Patchouli, Sakuya, and myself will go to the mansion to pick up our bags and then we'll head to the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu will open up the border and we'll go through it. Yukari will come into the outside world and check on us occasionally; she'll be our communicator. From there, we'll find the nearest doctor's office and ask about brain tumor removal. Hopefully, they can tell us some useful information that we'll be able to use to get Sakuya's tumor removed.

"But, here's the thing: I'm not too sure on how long this is going to take to get done. The actual surgery will probably be under a day, right? So let's say one day for the surgery. It'll probably be pretty easy to find a doctor's office in the outside world, considering the rumors I've heard about the population. So let's say about a day for that. Then we'll need a place to stay, which we'll want to find on our first day in the outside world. That'll be a day as well..." Remilia trailed off, and began pacing in front of the group.

Patchouli cleared her throat to speak. "I think it'll take about a month or two," Patchouli suggested.

"A _month_?" Remilia asked, astonished. "Why a month?"

"Well, we're going to have to schedule an appointment, and I doubt we'll be able to get one scheduled within three weeks. And then Sakuya will probably need to go through a week of physical therapy, so it'll probably be a little over a month until we get back in Gensokyo," Patchouli explained.

Remilia nodded. "I see...so it'll probably be a month until we're back, Flan," Remilia told her little sister.

"A month?" Flandre pouted. "Well...I can manage. I'll have Koa to help me, so we'll be fine," Flandre told her sister.

Remilia patted her on the head. "Good girl," Remilia said, smiling. "Let's head back to the mansion, shall we?" Remilia asked.

Everyone nodded, and so they left Eientei. Meiling carried Sakuya the whole way, making their faces turn a little red.

When they arrived at the mansion, Meiling set Sakuya down on the mansion's grounds and they all walked inside, where they were greeted at the door by Koakuma.  
"Welcome back," she said, greeting them. "Here are your bags," Koakuma told them, picking up several bags in her hands and handing them to Remilia and Patchouli.

"Thanks, Koa," Remilia thanked the little devil. "Well, I guess we'll be on our way now," Remilia told Koakuma. Then she turned to Flandre. "Don't destroy the mansion while we're gone. Also, don't eat too much pudding or drink too much apple cider; you'll get a stomach ache," Remilia told her little sister.

"Okay, onee-chan, I won't," Flandre said, nodding.

"Good," Remilia replied. "Well, goodbye! See you in a month!" Remilia said, smiling and waving as they all walked out the door.

"Bye!" Everyone said as they left the mansion.

Meiling scooped Sakuya up in her arms and they began their flight to the Hakurei Shrine.

"Meiling?" Sakuya asked, clutching onto the redheaded girl.

"Yes?"

"I'm so scared," Sakuya whimpered. She closed her eyes against the wind and continued. "I don't know what they're going to do to me to get my tumor removed..."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Meiling told her, trying to cheer her up. "Just relax, and it'll all be over soon. Don't work yourself up, because that'll just make it worse. I've been to the outside world before, and they're a lot more advanced than we are. I bet they give you some type of medicine to make sure you don't feel any pain," Meiling explained.

Sakuya snuggled closer to Meiling. "Okay," she quivered, "as long as you think I'll be okay, then I'll be okay."

Meiling's face turned red as they got closer and closer to the Hakurei Shrine. _I hope Reimu can open the border quickly. Poor Sakuya is so scared,_ Meiling thought to herself. Sakuya clutched Meiling's shoulder in her hand tighter as the Hakurei Shrine appeared in their range of sight.

Meiling landed on the shrine's grounds and set Sakuya down gently. Sakuya clasped her hands together behind her back and followed Remilia and Patchouli as they walked up to the shrine.

"Looking for Reimu?" A voice asked behind them.

Everyone turned to see Yukari floating in one of her gaps.

"She's surveying the border currently. I'll go tell her you're here," Yukari informed them before they could say anything. Then she disappeared into her gap.

"Well, at least she's willing to help us," Remilia shrugged, setting the suitcases she was carrying on the ground.

"It's a good thing they're being cooperative," Patchouli agreed.

Yukari appeared once more, this time with Reimu. Reimu jumped out of the gap and landed firmly on the ground, gohei in hand.

"I have surveyed the border. There is a place that I can take down for a few moments without trouble," Reimu told them, "but it's a little far from here. Yukari, would you mind taking us there?"

"Why not?" Yukari said sarcastically, groaning a little in annoyance. She opened her gap wider and motioned for everyone to follow her.

"Take us to the border where you picked me up, _please_ ," Reimu told Yukari once everyone was inside the gap, putting a lot of emphasis on the "please".

"Sure," Yukari said, opening up another gap in front of them. "There you go," Yukari told them.

"Thank you," Remilia said as she hopped out of the gap.

"Yes, thank you, Yukari," Patchouli told the gap youkai.

Meiling jumped out of the gap and then turned around to help Sakuya out. Sakuya jumped out and landed on the ground gently, but then swayed to one side. Meiling rushed to catch her as Sakuya fell toward the ground. Thankfully, Meiling got there just in time, and Sakuya wasn't hurt.

"It's this way," Reimu said, motioning for them to follow her, which they did.

"Are you going to be okay walking by yourself?" Meiling asked once the others were out of earshot.

"I think so," Sakuya said with a little uncertainty.

Meiling stayed close to Sakuya throughout the short walk to the border, afraid that she would fall or have a seizure or pass out. _I'm so worried about her,_ Meiling thought as Reimu suddenly came to a stop.

"Here's the border," Reimu told them. "Don't tell anybody that I let you through," Reimu said sternly, turning to face them.

"Okay," Remilia said.

Reimu turned back to the border and held up her gohei to it. Suddenly, something in the forest rippled, and an opening was created in the border. "Hurry through."

Remilia, Patchouli, Meiling, and Sakuya did what they were told. Meiling heard a "Good luck, Sakuya!" from Reimu as the border sealed shut, and they were left in the outside world with no way back in but Yukari.

 **Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me how I'm doing! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay, here's what we'll do. Meiling, you have experience with the outside world, correct? I think we all have experience with the outside world in some way, but Meiling, you've once lived here for a very long time, right?" Remilia questioned Meiling.

"Yes," Meiling answered.

"Good. Then Patchouli, you and Meiling should go schedule an appointment somewhere. Sakuya and I will find a place to stay for the night. What do you think?" Remilia asked the group.

"I think it's a good plan, but where will we meet up when we've done our job?" Patchouli asked Remilia.

"Hmm...how about right here at 8:00 in the evening?" Remilia suggested.

Patchouli nodded.

"Then it's settled! Come on, Sakuya, we've got to find a place to-" Remilia was cut off by a loud thump as Sakuya fell to the ground.

"I'm okay," Sakuya said, struggling to get up.

Meiling immediately rushed over and helped her get up. "Are you okay?" She asked Sakuya.

Sakuya brushed herself off and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine...I think I just lost my balance. Thank you, Meiling," Sakuya said softly, blushing a little out of embarrassment.

"Hmm..." Remilia grunted, staring at the two. "Actually, change of plans. Meiling, you and Sakuya will find a place to retire for the night and Patchouli and I will find a good place to have a treatment performed on you. Let's meet up back here when we're finished," Remilia suggested.

Patchouli looked confused for a moment. She glanced at Meiling and Sakuya and then understood what was happening and nodded at Remilia.

But Meiling seemed the most confused. "I don't really have all that much experience with hotels..." Meiling told Remilia. She glanced at Sakuya, who was still in her hospital gown from Eientei.

 _Why doesn't she want to come with me? Am I disgusting? Ugly? Do I smell or something?_ Sakuya thought to herself. Her thoughts were answered immediately.

"But I'll try my best," Meiling said with a determined look on her face.

"Good. Then let's get going; we don't have much longer until evening," Remilia told the group, and turned away with Patchouli.

Meiling and Sakuya didn't move, though. "Uh...so...we should probably...uh...find a hotel, right?" Meiling asked Sakuya awkwardly, a blush creeping up to her face.

"Y-yeah, we probably should. D-do you wanna go check over there?" Sakuya asked, pointing to a large city in the distance. They were in a clearing in the middle of the forest outside of Gensokyo.

"Sure. L-let's go," Meiling stuttered once more, and started off, staying very close to Sakuya in case she were to fall once more.

They walked through to forest until they came upon a large tree that had fallen over. Sakuya looked at Meiling, a little worried that she wouldn't be able to make it over.

"Here," Meiling said, blushing furiously and she scooped Sakuya up in her arms and flew over the logs. "Do you need me to...carry you to the city?" Meiling asked, not sure if Sakuya would be able to make it in her current state.

"I...I think I can make it...how much longer is this path?" Sakuya asked the former gate-guard.

Meiling looked forward at the path ahead of them. "It looks like it won't be ending soon."

 _I don't know if I can make it on my own...but I have Meiling to carry me..._

"Then please carry me, dear," Sakuya said in the sweetest voice possible, causing Meiling to blush a very deep red color.

"Uh...sure, Miss Sakuya," Meiling blushed.

Meiling walked down the path, carrying Sakuya bridal-style, her face a little pink. When they finally reached the end of the path, Meiling set Sakuya down and popped her back, stretching.

 _Oh no...did that overexert her?_ Sakuya wondered. She was just about to ask when Meiling read her expression and smiled.

"I'm okay, Miss Sakuya. That was easy compared to other things I've carried. I just need a little break," Meiling told Sakuya, panting a little.

"Thanks for carrying me, Meiling," Sakuya said as sweetly as she could muster, smiling at the end of her sentence. She loved to see the reactions Meiling gave her.

"Oh...yeah, no problem, anytime," Meiling said quickly.

"I can walk on my own. We're almost to the city," Sakuya said, pointing at the tall sky-scrapers.

"Okay," Meiling said, and they started walking once more.

Suddenly, a burst of pressure was put on her head, and Sakuya tipped over, almost hitting the ground, but Meiling caught her at the last second and pulled her back up. "It's okay...I've got you," Meiling whispered to Sakuya, who was breathing heavily.

"Thanks, Meiling," Sakuya panted, and then let go of the former gate-guard. Then she grabbed Meiling's hand again, both to her surprise and Meiling's. "Can I hold your hand...so I don't tip over?" Sakuya asked, blushing a little.

"Yeah...sure."

Meiling and Sakuya looked up and saw that they were already there. "Woah," they breathed in unison.

There were life-sized beetles racing around on a black road with people inside of them. Sakuya looked at all of the people racing around on a white road, talking into square-like objects as they walked. There were a few cosplayers as well; people were dressed in miko outfits and maid outfits, but Sakuya didn't recognize them as people from Gensokyo.

People cast glances at Meiling and Sakuya, but they were only glances. Nobody stared at them for too long; they were all caught up in their own business to worry about other people. _I guess we blend in well with the cosplayers. We must be classified as normal to them,_ Sakuya thought.

Sakuya quickly took one note on the area: there were lots and lots of people. There were so many people that it was overwhelming. _How do people get around at this rate?_ Sakuya thought to herself, keeping a tight grip on Meiling's hand. _But if I stop time...people would notice we're missing..._

She looked around a little and spotted a dark alleyway. _Perfect! Nobody will see us disappear, so we'll be fine._

"Meiling, come on," Sakuya said, pulling Meiling into the alley.

"Wait, Sakuya-"

They arrived in the alley and hid behind some trashcans. It smelled really, really bad, but Sakuya fought off the bad smell and told Meiling her plan. "Hold onto my hand as tightly as you can and don't let go. I'm going to stop time and we're going to look for a hotel this way," Sakuya whispered.

"But, Sakuya, won't somebody notice us?" Meiling asked her.

"I don't know...it's risky, but it will be convenient for us," Sakuya told Meiling.

Meiling sighed. "Let's try it..."

Sakuya hesitated no longer. She reached down to her gown to pull out her pocket watch, but found that it was not there. _Damn it! I left it in my maid's uniform...oh well. I can stop time without it..._

Sakuya concentrated really hard on her goal, and suddenly the world turned gray around her, and everything stopped. The trashcans stopped smelling, the people stopping walking, and the giant beetles stopped moving.

"Okay, Meiling, let's go. Where should we look first?" Sakuya asked, turning to Meiling.

Meiling shrugged. "Wherever is fine," she told the former head-maid. "Maybe we should get an overhead view. I'll fly up and we can try to find a hotel that way," Meiling said to Sakuya.

"Good idea. Let's go," Sakuya agreed.

Meiling nodded, and tried to let go of Sakuya's hand, but Sakuya stopped her. "You'll get stuck in time if I let you go," Sakuya told her.

"Oh, right," Meiling remembered, and then clasped Sakuya's hand tighter than ever. Meiling scooped up Sakuya in her arms and they flew upward, surveying the city. There was a giant building with a sign that said, "HOTEL TOKYO" on it in big letters. Meiling flew to the building and landed on the ground outside.

"Shall we?" Meiling asked, holding open the door for Sakuya, which Sakuya thanked her for.

"Where should I let time flow again?" Sakuya asked.

"Hmm...the bathroom? They probably won't have cameras in there, so we'll be fine," Meiling suggested.

Sakuya nodded, and they ran to the bathroom, where Sakuya concentrated as hard as she could on letting time flow again.

After a while of concentrating, nothing happened. "Sakuya, you may want to take a break from that...if you don't, you might have another seizure," Meiling warned her.

"I'll be fine," Sakuya told her, waving her off despite knowing that she might overexert herself.

She went back to concentrating on letting time flow once more, and had no success again. She started panting, and they had to sit on the floor so she could relax better. As much as Sakuya hated sitting on the floor, she knew she had to, and she knew she wouldn't be effected by the dirty bathroom floor, since time was stopped.

"Miss Sakuya, please rest for a moment," Meiling asked her.

Sakuya sighed and gave in. "I probably should...I wish I had my pocket watch," Sakuya said to Meiling, panting still.

"Then imagine you do have your pocket watch."

"...what?"

"Imagine you have your pocket watch to let time flow," Meiling offered.

Sakuya held out her hand like she had her pocket watch in it. She imagined that the watch was in her hand; she imagined the cold metal against the palm of her hand and the little ticks the watch made as time flashed by. Finally, she imagined the little button on the side, and she imagined that she had pressed it, and time began to flow once more.

* * *

"You're sure we don't need to buy an umbrella?" Patchouli asked Remilia anxiously. "This is the longest you've ever been in the sunlight without one. Are you going to be alright?"

"Relax, Patchy. It's irritating, but not so much to the point that I need an umbrella. I just worry that we won't have enough outside-world money to pay for Sakuya's surgery. I'm sure Yukari can hook us up with some more money, but I don't like asking her for things. What about your asthma?" Remilia asked Patchouli.

Patchouli shrugged. "I think I'll be okay."

They continued walking through the city, stopping occasionally to look at something that had caught their eye. Eventually, they came to a halt in front of a doctor's office that was a little separate from the city.

"Shall we go inside?" Remilia asked.

"Sure," Patchouli said, and Remilia opened up the door for her.

When Remilia entered the room, she was immediately hit with a very...odd smell. It smelled a little like the mansion smelled when Sakuya had finishing soaping the floors, but more bitter and stronger. _They must use some kind of advanced cleaning products or something,_ Remilia thought to herself, glancing around the room. There were a lot of chairs pushed up against the wall of the lobby and a big coffee table in the center of all of the chairs. The lobby was empty except for a few elderly people sitting in some of the chairs.

Remilia and Patchouli approached what seemed to be a receptionist's desk. Remilia was only a little bit taller than the counter, and she had to strain her eyes to see what was going on. Patchouli, however, was taller than Remilia, and had more luck seeing over the counter.

The receptionist, an old lady with her gray hair tied in a tight bun, peered down at them over the rims of her glasses.

"What can I do for you?" She asked in a bored and tired tone, looking at Patchouli.

"Do you perform brain surgeries for brain tumors here?" Patchouli asked the receptionist.

The receptionist shook her head. "No, we do not."

"...can you recommend us to somebody who does perform brain surgeries?"

The receptionist narrowed her eyes, looking annoyed. "Look, kid, that's not my job. How am I supposed to know how to help you in this situation? I'm tired, bored, and I just want-"  
Remilia had it. She jumped up on the counter and looked the receptionist in the eye with her own red ones. "Look, lady, we've got a family member dying of a brain tumors. How are we supposed to know how to help her in this situation? I'm annoyed with the way you're treating us, and if I were to leave a rating on this place, I would give it one star because of the crappy customer service you provided to us. We need help finding a place our family member can have a surgery done. So if you could at least attempt to point us in the right direction, we'll be very grateful. M'kay, sweetie?" Remilia mouthed off. She smiled sweetly at the end of her speech and flashed her eyes at the lady.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I'll go get the doctor," the lady stuttered, nearly tripping over her chair as she got up and ran into the back.

Remilia hopped down from the counter and smiled at Patchouli.

"Remilia, we could have been caught! We're lucky she's old, or else she would've called the authorities on you to have you looked at! People can't flash their eyes like that, nor do they have red eyes!"

"Neither do they have purple eyes. Besides, I'm a cosplayer, right? I'm supposed to try to act my character," Remilia pointed out.

Patchouli sighed and smiled. "That was close."

The lady came back and sat down in her chair. "She'll be right out," the lady told them.

Remilia peeped over the counter. "Thank you, miss."

Suddenly, the door to the receptionist's desk and the back area opened, and the doctor appeared. She was blond with a lab coat and a familiar mischievous smile. "Hello, girls. May I assist you in finding the proper brain surgeon for your family member?" The familiar woman asked.

 _Yukari? She's a doctor here?!_ Remilia thought, shocked. _Then again, she could just be acting, or she may have put a spell on the staff to make them believe that she was the doctor..._

"Yes, please," Patchouli said, looking a little relieved to see someone from Gensokyo.

"Right this way, then. To my office!" Yukari said, leading them into the back and down a hall. She held open the door for them when they arrived at her office, and shut it behind them once everyone was inside.

Yukari took a seat at the opposite side of the desk. "So, your family member is sick. How unfortunate. How did you find out about her tumor?" Yukari asked. She motioned to the upper right-hand corner of the room, where a camera sat.

 _Oh, that's why she hasn't launched into conversation about Gensokyo..._

"There's a mosquito over there!" Patchouli said frantically, pretending to freak out. "I'm deadly allergic to them!" Patchouli screamed, pointing at the camera.

Yukari grabbed a fly-swatter. "Is there?" Yukari asked, hitting the camera so hard that it fell to the ground and cracked open.

Yukari turned around and sat back down in her chair. "Anyway," Yukari said, dropping the act, "Reimu wanted to know how everyone is doing and how much progress you're making, and she told me to come check things out down here. Why can't she do this stuff herself? She could've just gone with you," Yukari groaned.

Remilia and Patchouli stayed silent as Yukari shuffled some papers.

"So, a brain surgeon. Not much like finding one?" Yukari asked.

"No, no luck at all. Where can we find one?" Remilia asked.

"Well, there's an awesome brain specialist in another city, but you'd need to fly to get there. Sakuya can stop time, right? I suggest having her stop time so you can fly to the country in peace. The outside-world people would freak out if they saw you flying through the sky. But there's a great surgeon out there. She'll get you hooked up right away," Yukari told them. "The place is called 'Brain And Surgery Institute For The Sick'. Just tell the receptionist Yukari sent you and she'll know who I am," Yukari recommended.

"What's the address?" Patchouli asked.

"You know how to read addresses?" Yukari questioned, surprised.

"I have experience..."

"Well, I'll give you the crossroads. It's East Sealing Avenue, West Club Parkway," Yukari informed her.

"Thank you so much for all of this, Yukari," Remilia said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. Honestly, she was, but she made an extra effort because it was Yukari she was speaking to.

"Yeah, no problem, Remilia. I just hope something interesting will come out of this trip," Yukari grunted. "Well, I best be going. I have patients to attend to," Yukari said dutifully, standing up and pushing her chair in.

"Yukari, you work here?" Remilia asked the old gap hag.

"Nah, not really. The doctor 'mysteriously got sick' today, so I stepped in to fill the position," Yukari winked.

Remilia and Patchouli, understanding what was going on, nodded and chuckled to themselves as they left Yukari's office. Yukari put on her act once more as they headed out the door. "Goodbye, girls! Good luck!" Yukari called out to them in a sweet tone.

"Thank you!" Remilia called back, also keeping up an act.

* * *

"What can I do for you ladies?" The receptionist asked Meiling and Sakuya.

They had just walked out of the bathroom and up to the receptionist's desk and now they were talking to him.

"We need a room for four people," Meiling told the receptionist.

He tapped something on the weird rectangle thing in front of him and looked back at them. "For how long will you be staying?" He asked.

"Hmm..." Meiling looked at Sakuya. Sakuya mouthed 'a month' to her, and she got it. "We'll be staying for a month," Meiling told him.

He looked down at his screen and then back at them. "A...month?" He asked, confused.

"Yes, a month," Sakuya spoke, a little annoyed.

"Okay," He said, and then tapped something on his computer once more. "You're in room 929, on the top floor," he told them, holding out four cards.

Meiling took them from him. "What are these?" She asked, looking down at the card.

"Uh...they're your room keys."

"Room keys?" Meiling asked. "So I just put it in and it unlocks?"

"Yeah," He answered.

"...okay, thank you," Meiling said after reading the instructions on the card.

Sakuya and Meiling walked to the sign that said, 'Stairs' on it and opened up the door. "There are a lot of stairs we need to climb, Sakuya. Do you need me to carry you?" Meiling asked.

"Uh...yeah..." Sakuya trailed off. "I can stop time so you can fly," she offered.

Meiling shook her head, scooping Sakuya up in her arms. "There's nobody in the stairs. Let's just fly up," she told Sakuya, and then without another word, floated up the stairs.

Once they had reached the top, Meiling gently set Sakuya down on the ground and looked at the room numbers. "Let's see...929..." Meiling muttered out loud.

They walked down the hallway, passing 901, 902, 903...910, 911, 912...920, 921, 922...until they finally reached their room.

Meiling located the card reader on the door and put the side of the card with the arrow facing up on it in first. Then she quickly pulled it out, and they heard a click as the door unlocked. Meiling opened it up and held the door open for Sakuya, who walked into the room, taking cautious steps. A large, black, rectangular box was sitting on top of a very tall table in the bedroom. There were two more separate rooms: one a bathroom and one a miniature kitchen.

Meiling closed the door behind them and looked at their surroundings. "Not bad," Meiling mused, and looked at Sakuya, who nodded in agreement.

They were quiet for a while, but it wasn't a very comfortable quiet. It was a very awkward quiet.

"So...uh...now what?" Meiling asked Sakuya.

"I don't know," Sakuya replied.

They each sat down on one of the two queen-sized beds, not really looking at each other.

Finally, Sakuya interrupted the silence. "Meiling," she said with determination.

"Yes, Miss-" Meiling was cut off by Sakuya kissing her. Sakuya dug her tongue deep into Meiling's mouth, tickling the tops of her teeth and the fleshy insides of her cheeks. Meiling, surprised, froze for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around Sakuya and pulled her onto the bed, returning the kiss.

They only broke apart because their lungs were dying for air. Panting, Sakuya gazed down at Meiling, who she was laying on top of. A string of saliva still connected their mouths as they caught their breath.

"Meiling," Sakuya panted, hugging Meiling.

"Yes?" Meiling asked her, also breathing heavily.

"I love you," Sakuya answered.

"I love you too," Meiling replied, and pecked her softly on the lips.

The couple didn't say anything for a while. They just laid on the bed, enjoying each other's company, recalling the kiss they had just shared.

"Meiling," Sakuya asked again.

"Yes, my love?"

"Will you be with me even though I'm sick right now and I'm going to die? I know it's a lot to ask, and I don't want to hurt your feelings, but it would help if I were able to die knowing that someone loves me that way," Sakuya questioned.

Meiling didn't respond immediately. She hesitated a little before asking Sakuya a question.

"Sakuya, what makes you think you're going to die?" Meiling asked.

"Well, the treatment might not work, and Eirin said it was a big one, so I don't think I'm going to-"

"SAKUYA!" Meiling shouted, drawing the girl she was laying with close to her. "You're not going to die. You're not going to die. I won't let you die. We're going to get you fixed up, you'll see; you're going to be healthy and back in Gensokyo before you know it," Meiling said, tears forming in her eyes.

The thought of Sakuya leaving her was too much to bear. What would a world be like without Sakuya?

Sakuya, the perfect, elegant maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Always there to wake Meiling up and get her back on task; always there to serve the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion their meals; always there to make Meiling smile. She was _always_ there. A world without her wouldn't be right. The Scarlet Devil Mansion would never be the same. The mistress would lose her closest servant; Flandre would lose someone to get her new toys; Patchouli would lose a clean library; Koakuma would lose a fellow servant.

Meiling would lose a lover. She would lose her best friend, the person that was always there for her. She would lose all the beauty in her life if Sakuya wasn't there. Food would no longer be enjoyable for her. She wouldn't be able to perform her duties properly if Sakuya wasn't there. There would be no more reason for her to live in a world without Sakuya.

"Meiling, you're crying!" Sakuya gasped, and grabbed some toilet paper from the bathroom for her to blow her nose in and wipe her eyes with.

"I'm sorry, Meiling..." Sakuya apologized. She regretted talking about her death because of how she had made Meiling cry. She shouldn't have been so careless.

Meiling wiped her eyes. "No, it's fine. It's not your fault, it's mine. I shouldn't have started crying when you were trying to tell me how you were feeling about your current situation. It's just...Sakuya, I can't imagine a world without you," Meiling sniffed. She blew her nose into the toilet paper and got up to get some more from the bathroom.

"Thanks for the toilet paper," Meiling said, returning from the bathroom with more toilet paper just in case she needed to blow her nose again.

Suddenly, Sakuya pulled Meiling onto the bed, making sure she had a soft landing. "Meiling, I'm sorry. It's my fault; I shouldn't have been talking negatively like that. Thinking negatively isn't going to help the situation."

Meiling smiled and caressed Sakuya's face with her hand. "It's okay, Sakuya. Really, it's not your fault," she told her.

They were silent once more, holding each other's hands, not saying anything. They listened to the sound of the fan-like device on the ceiling and watched the actual fan on the roof spin to help keep the room cool.

"So, you will love me? Even though I might...you know..." Sakuya asked, avoiding saying the words "death" or "die" or "died".

Meiling smiled and chuckled a little. "Of course I'll love you. I'll love you no matter what. Even if you're sick or scared or tired or lonely, I'll always love you. My love for you is unconditional," Meiling told Sakuya.

"I love you, Meiling. I love you a lot," Sakuya sighed happily, and then gave her lover a soft kiss on the lips.

* * *

"Look, we're _finally_ here!" Remilia said sarcastically, pointing at the building on the streets Yukari had told them about. "You got us here quite quickly, little miss 'I have experience'."

"Oh, shut up! I do have experience, it's just there were some new things I was unaware of, okay?" Patchouli retorted.

"Whatever. Let's go inside," Remilia said quickly before they started fighting.

They entered the lobby and Remilia immediately noticed how it was almost like the last lobby they went to. Chairs were pushed up against the wall, but the room was much, much larger, and there were more people sitting in chairs. _I think this is a hospital,_ Remilia thought to herself, and they went up to the receptionist's desk, which was thankfully much shorter.

The lady, a blonde with a mob cap and a nurse's uniform on, looked up at them with unusual purplish-pink eyes and smiled. "Hello, what can I do for you?" The woman asked.

Remilia read her name tag: _Maribel Usami_.

"Hello. Yukari sent us," Remilia told her.

Maribel stopped for a moment and looked deeply at Remilia. "You mean...Yukari, as in "Yakumo Yukari?"

"Yes ma'am," Remilia answered.

Maribel quickly rose from her seat and opened the door to the back area for them. "Right this way, please."

Remilia and Patchouli were yet again lead down a hallway, but this time, the hallway was much busier, wider, and longer than the last one had been.

Maribel turned a corner and went through the big **STAFF ONLY** doors. She led them straight down the hallway and into the last door on the right, shutting it behind them quickly once everyone was inside.

"Renko, we've got people from Gensokyo," Maribel told the girl sitting behind a desk in the room.

The woman looked up at them from a few papers on her desk. She looked to be somewhere in her mid 20s, just like Maribel. She had brown hair and brown eyes and studied them intently.

"Wait, how did you know that we're from Gensokyo?" Patchouli asked.

Maribel and Renko exchanged glances and smiled at each other before Renko explained. "We've been there. We went about 6 years ago, didn't we, Merry?" Renko asked.

Maribel nodded. "Yes, we did, and we met Yukari and the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. They helped us get back to the outside-world," Maribel told Remilia and Patchouli.

Renko got up out of her chair and went up to Remilia and Patchouli. "Wow," Renko breathed, studying them, "you really are from Gensokyo! Merry and I studied the place in college, and we went on a bunch of expeditions there together!"

"Then it's my pleasure to meet you," Remilia told Renko, holding out her hand for her to shake. Renko gladly took it, shaking her hand gratefully. She shook Patchouli's hand as well.

"So you must be Remilia Scarlet and Patchouli Knowledge, correct?" Renko asked them.

"How'd you know that?" Remilia asked, curious.

"The shrine maiden told us not to go near the big red mansion because Remilia Scarlet, Flandre Scarlet, Patchouli Knowledge, Sakuya Izayoi, and Hong Meilling lived there. She said that you were very powerful youkai, and she escorted us back," Maribel explained.

"Oh," Remilia said.

There was silence for a little while, and then Patchouli piped up. "Do you think you can help our maid, Sakuya? She has a brain tumor, and our doctor back in Gensokyo believes it can be removed by specialists from the outside-world," Patchouli explained.

"Certainly. Where is she? I'll have to take x-rays and examine the tumor more closely. Then I can decide whether or not we can perform the surgery. If it's too close to the spinal cord, I won't be able to remove it, because if I accidentally bump her spinal cord, she won't be able to sit up right, walk, or move ever again," Maribel informed them.

"We're supposed to meet up with her in..." Remilia trailed off, glancing around for a clock.

"It's 18:02:09," Renko told them.

"Oh, thank you," Remilia thanked her, and continued. "We're supposed to meet up with Sakuya and Meiling in about 2 hours. We split up so they could find us a place to stay for the night."

"I see," Maribel said, and began to pace the room a little like Remilia did. Remilia immediately noticed a ring on her ring finger. She looked at it carefully as Maribel paced back and forth. Then she turned and studied Renko's ring, trying to look natural as if she were staring around the room. She quickly took note of the fact that the two youngest girls in the room had identical rings. _Are they...married?_ Remilia thought to herself. Then she remembered the way Renko had called Maribel "Merry" and the way Maribel had talked to Renko using her first name. _Cute!_ Remilia thought as she connected the dots.

Finally, Maribel stopped and snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Tomorrow, if you can bring Sakuya in at around 8:00 in the morning, that'd be great. That way I can get the x-rays and all of the tests done by 9:00. I can get you in a week from then to have the surgery performed, since it takes a little while for the tests to return. The surgery will take about a day. I'll perform the surgery, if that is all right with you," Maribel told Remilia, taking out a wallet from a pocket in her skirt. From her wallet, she removed a card. "This is my Ph.D. in brain surgery and brain science," Merry said, smiling. She then put her card back in her wallet.

"So what do you think?" Renko asked them.

"It all sounds good to me. Patchouli?"

"It's perfect," Patchouli decided. "Thank you so much for this."

"No problem! Anyone from Gensokyo is always welcome," Maribel told them.

"We best be going, right, Patchy?" Remilia asked the librarian.

Patchouli nodded, and they waved goodbye to Renko and Maribel. Soon enough, they were out of the door and on their way all the way back to where they had first started out.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up soon!**


	10. Discontinued

**Hi!**

 **It's been a while, and I've decided that I'm going to discontinue** _ **As Winter Came.**_ **I don't know how to end it and I think it'd be a little weird to pick it back up and start writing again. I was planning on killing off Sakuya, but that was too sad to write about, so I decided that I'm going to just discontinue** _ **As Winter Came.**_

 **However, I am going to continue writing.**

 **-TouhouLoveStories**


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